Source: Maxim sues two former employees for leaking an unflattering story about the magazine’s owner to the New York Post.
Last week, Maxim filed a defamation and breach of contract lawsuit against Jason Feifer and Wayne Gross, two former employers. The suit accuses them of leaking stories to the New York Post about the magazine’s December cover shoot in Monte Carlo.
The amended complaint was filed on January 4. The original complaint filed in December named only Gross as a defendant, but it was amended to feature Feifer, who admitted to being the third-hand source. Maxim decided to still sue both men because Gross allegedly told his friend Feifer about the Maxim cover shoot story.
Apparently, gossip can cost you dearly.
Gross worked at Maxim as a fashion director. Although he was on set in Monte Carlo, he and his lawyer, Cameron Stracher, state that Gross wasn’t the source for the Post’s scathing article originally titled: “Maxim owner was really creepy toward Alessandra Ambrosio during shoot.”
Supermodel Alessandra Ambrosio agreed to do a photo shoot in July in Monte Carlo, and Maxim’s owner Sardar Biglari allegedly offered his hotel suite to shoot in and himself to model. In the December published spread, there are photos of Ambrosio on Biglari’s boat and one of her on his balcony railing while he sits at a table nearby.
The New York Post article said an insider disclosed that Ambrosio was “creeped out” by Biglario and didn’t want the pictures with him to run in the magazine. In the article, Biglario was portrayed as a character who exploited his position to prey on beautiful women.
The story was written by Keith Kelly and published on December 2.
On December 8, the Post revised the article and headline to soften the portrayal of Biglario, but it was too late. He and his legal team wanted Feifer and Gross to pay.
While this intense litigation continues, Biglario will soon become Maxim’s Editor-in-Chief and take complete creative control of the men’s publication. Gross is the men’s fashion director for Amazon-owned ShopBop. Feifer is the interim director of Entrepreneur.