Tuesday, January 8, 2002
Christina Aguilera's lawyer fights 'sex tape' rumour
By STEPHANIE McGRATH -- AllPop
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Two websites that were hosting sexually explicit footage and claiming it was of pop star Christina Aguilera have removed the content from their sites, a move Aguilera's lawyer views as "a complete admission that it was in error".
Aguilera's lawyer, Carla Christofferson, says a woman calling herself Amanda Cole supplied the material to the websites, which are both hosted by the same company. Cole claimed that she was hired as a photographer by Aguilera's management, which gave her X-rated access to Aguilera. Christofferson says Cole never worked for the singer.
"Basically she pulls out photographs that have been taken of Christina by other people, claims them as her own and then makes up a story that she had been hired, they had become friends but then Christina started getting jealous of her and started treating her poorly, and this was the parting shot that she went and took this video of Christina and her boyfriend," Christofferson told AllPop on Tuesday. "She spun a whole story to try to give it credibility, and the entire story was false."
 Christina |
After viewing the tape herself, Christofferson is absolutely certain that the woman in the online video is not Aguilera.
"When you look at the video, in addition to showing the person from the back -- except for one shot that I think she mistakenly put in there where you swing to the side, which is one of the reasons you can tell that it's not Christina -- there's also a mirror in front of the person that is doing the act, so the mirror should have the front shot of the face. And when they do sort of the teaser, you can sort of see, so you would think that you would see the face but they have blocked that out. They've made it a clear reflection because it would show that it wasn't Christina. [Also] any of Christina's fans know how little she is, and this woman is not that little, she just has blond hair."
A letter was sent to the websites, instructing them to remove the material and requesting contact information for Amanda Cole. Christofferson says her firm is still trying to decide whether it will pursue legal action against the sites that hosted the sexually explicit material and claimed it was of Aguilera.
She sounds more certain about plans for Cole.
"We're waiting for contact information regarding the alleged photographer, because we will be pursuing legal action against that person," she says.
Meanwhile, a second rumour involving a sexually explicit video tape of Aguilera continues to show up in print and online. A man calling himself Rick Miller sent AllPop.com the following e-mail, claiming he was in possession of a video tape that showed himself and Aguilera engaging in sexual activity:
"I regret to inform you that your report of a Christina Aguilera sex tape hoax is incorrect. As I personally am the so-called 'lucky bastard' who conned Miss Aguilera into the sack, I am fervently pursuing anyone who contradicts my story," reads the e-mail.
Christofferson says she hadn't heard of Miller prior to the e-mail, although she had heard rumblings about someone claiming to have a sexually explicit tape that included footage of Aguilera.
But, she says, "... no one has seen this tape. Christina says that there is no such tape, and we think that it's pretty telling that this person is just going around telling people to trust him. We are right now trying to pursue all leads we can to track this person down to take action against them for defamation or anything else we need to do to stop this type of rumour from circulation."
If Miller really does have a tape, it would be better for him if it is a fake.
"Frankly, I'd be happy to take a look at whatever he claims to have, as well, because, one, I would bet that it's not what he claims, and if it was, he's in a whole lot more trouble ... it's criminal [his alleged 'sex video'], so he should really hope that he's committing defamation."
But Christofferson quickly points out that her client insists "there is no such thing out there".
The entire issue was originally brought to Christofferson's attention by Aguilera's mother Shelly, who was alerted to the online footage's existence by one of the singer's fans.
Christofferson says that both Aguilera and her mother are understandably upset by Cole's claims.
"A lot of people won't take the time to figure out that it's false, and this is completely trying to cast Christina in a light that she doesn't deserve and shouldn't be put under," she says.
(More on:
Christina Aguilera)
Christina's official statement.
-- AllPop
