Woman claims she was libeled by Cook’s campaign, state GOP
Rachel Olson describes herself as a marketing executive, wife and mother. But when her image appeared without her consent in political advertising, she said friends, relatives and co-workers began asking her if she was a porn star.
Olson, who lives in Vestaburg, East Bethlehem Township, has demanded more than $50,000 in damages from freshman state Rep. Bud Cook of Coal Center, the “4 We the People – Cook” political committee and the Republican Party of Pennsylvania because of television commercials and fliers that appeared from Oct. 19, 2016, through Election Day, aimed against Democrat Alan Benyak, Cook’s opponent in the 49th District legislative race.
Five years before the political contest, Benyak appeared in what the suit describes as a “low-budget local horror movie entitled ‘Breeding Farm.'”
Sometime in 2011, someone identified in the suit only as “an individual connected to the production” approached Olson to appear in the movie. Olson agreed with the film’s producer, Cody Knotts, to be cast for a single day, for which she was to be paid $2,000.
Afterward, Olson, according to documents filed with Washington County Court, had second thoughts about her actions and decided she wanted her character to be removed from the film. She said she and Knotts agreed her scene would be cut from the film and she would not be paid. She states in the suit she received no money for her role, but she never signed a document related to her understanding she would not be included in the final version of the film.
But last October, in commercials that ran on both cable and broadcast television in the Mon Valley, footage appeared showing Olson tied up and being gagged by a tattooed male “made to appear as … Benyak. … Added to this footage is a voiceover which states that Benyak starred in a torture porn movie. … Contrary to the voiceover in the ad, and the false impression it created, the movie is not a porn movie, does not show sexual acts and has always been labeled a ‘horror movie’ by its owner, producer and director, Cody Knotts, and its distributor, Troma Entertainment Inc.”
Mailers, paid for by Cook and the Republican Party of Pennsylvania, were sent to voters within the district that repeated the phrase “torture porn” and included an image from the same scene in “Breeding Farm.”
Olson sent a Facebook message to “4 We the People – Cook” informing the committee that her likeness was appearing in an advertisement without her permission.
“It does appear that in subsequent political mailers depicting the same ad and language, (Olson’s) face is blurred out. These mailers were (exactly) the same as the originals, giving the impression that Cook, the committee and the party knew they were wrong. … At some point in 2016, the footage from ‘Breeding Farm’ that included (Olson’s) likeness was knowingly and willfully given to Donald (Bud) Cook and ‘4 We the People – Cook’ for the sole purpose of defeating Alan Benyak in the 49th Legislative race,” the complaint states.
Cook, his committee and “unknown defendants” failed to exercise due diligence in determining whether Olson’s likeness could be used in the ad without obtaining her consent, she asserted. Olson also stated in the complaint that because the advertisements imply serious sexual misconduct, she was libeled, damaging her reputation and standing in the community, and causing her humiliation, mental anguish and an outbreak of shingles that may cause her to lose her job.
She asked for a judgment of more than $50,000 in damages and costs, and wants the court to require Cook, his committee and the Republican Party of Pennsylvania to remove all pictures, videos and other types of media, including internet video, that depict her in “Breeding Farm.”
Messages for comment on the suit left for Cook and a Pennsylvania Republican Party spokeswoman were not returned.