Fiji Water Has Countersued The Fiji Water Girl
This water is filthy…with avarice, pettiness, and fame-whoring! Model Kelleth Cuthbert has already established her life’s legacy by embracing her 15 minutes of fame as 2019 Golden Globes meme: The Fiji Water Girl. She red carpet-bombed just about every celebrity pic that night, upstaging the world’s most famous faces with nothing by a cheap blue dress and a tray of oddly shaped bottled water. Not content with the $90,000 she was reportedly paid for her work, Kelleth recently filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Fiji for allegedly using her cardboard cut-out likeness without her permission. Fiji Water has splashed back, dousing Fiji Water Girl with a countersuit accusing her of trying to extort them. And that’s the end of the water metaphors, I swear.
According to TMZ, Fiji’s countersuit is based on The Fiji Water Girl being an ungrateful stunt model.
Fiji filed a counter lawsuit Friday against model Kelleth Cuthbert — real name Kelly Steinbach — saying she’s “bitten the hand that feeds her” and attempted to extort the company for half a million dollars. In docs, Fiji says Kelly’s real motivation was getting a better deal … aka more money.
Kelleth claims that she never gave permission for Fiji to create cardboard likenesses of her to menace actual celebrities at supermarkets across Log Angeles with, hence her lawsuit.
There are some shady bitkas at Fiji because they not only counter-sued, they dragged her for being a greedy nobody that should be licking their oddly-shaped water bottles (seriously, why nonspherical?) out of gratitude.
Fiji says she tried to skirt the deal by “suing the very company that is entirely responsible for providing her the opportunity and the means to capitalize on her fleeting 15 minutes of internet fame.”
Plus, Kelleth has already been replaced.
Fiji also claims that they have video of Kelleth signing off on the cardboard cutout campaign, but her legal team says that was a “fake signing” of a “fake document.” Her lawyer Kecia Reynolds released a statement saying that they wouldn’t be “bullied” by Fiji or their parent company – The Wonderful Company.
They double down on their original claim, stating that “she is legally entitled to damages and profits from the use of her image. Fiji Water’s complaint is meritless and Kelleth is confident she will prevail in court.”
You never see this kind of mess happening with Poland Springs. Wait, Kelleth Cuthbert should TOTALLY become the Poland Springs Water Girl and turn the 2019 Oscars into a media circus to eff with Fiji. Hell, the Academy should just change their mind about not having an Oscar host and let Poland Springs Water Girl do it! Fiji Water would boil with anger! Marketing genius for both sides!
Pic: YouTube