Platypus Sues Over UPN's Bad Girls

San Diego-based Platypus Wear. which markets a Bad Girl line of clothing (as well as Bad Boy and Life's a Beach lines), is suing Cameron Tuttle over the planned use of her name, Bad Girl's Guide, for a new UPN series with Jenny McCarthy.

The suit, which was filed Friday in U.S. District Court in San Diego, named Palm Tree Productions and Flame Television, which are producing the series, The Bad Girls Guide, in association with Paramount.

The suit wants the producers to pull the Bad Girl name from the show, as well as clothing and related merchandise.

The series debuts Tuesday, May 24, at 9:30.

"We have tried for over a year to get Ms. Tuttle to negotiate an agreement that would allow her to legally use the name Bad Girl for merchandising and television," said Melody Harris, Platypus Wear's general counsel/brand development director, in a statement. "Despite those efforts, she chose to proceed without our permission, and we felt we had to sue to protect our rights."

UPN had not commented at press time.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.