Tuesday, July 7, 2026
Page 4
Ninth Circuit:
Case in Which Vanna White Sued for Breach of Right of Publicity Defeats Rapper’s Suit
By a MetNews Staff Writer
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in affirming the dismissal with prejudice of an action brought by a rapper/chef who complains that her persona was pilfered by Amazon.com, has applied a 1992 decision arising under California law declaring that there was no violation of television hostess Vanna White’s right of publicity in using, in a commercial, a robot resembling her standing on a Wheel of Fortune-like set.
Bringing the present lawsuit was Sheri Johnson, who performs under the name “HotPink.” She sued Amazon.com over an Amazon Prime commercial featuring Megan Pete, known as Megan Thee Stallion, whom she also named as a defendant.
Johnson said in the operative complaint that in the commercial, Pete “wore long sleeve black lace attire, held a light purple cell phone, and presented herself as a chef,” thus mimicking the plaintiff’s “persona” and “creating a likelihood of confusion among the public and leading to the impression that Plaintiff endorsed or was affiliated with Amazon Prime.”
White Applies
In a memorandum opinion filed Thursday, Circuit Judges Michelle T. Friedland Ronald M. Gould, and Salvador Mendoza Jr. said that White v. Samsung Electronics America, Inc. controls. (The court in White, while affirming a summary judgment in favor of the defendants on a claim of wrongful appropriation of identity in advertising, reversed as to claims for violations of the right of publicity and trademark infringement.)
Although Johnson sued under Washington law, the judges noted:
“There is no meaningful difference between the California law at issue there and the Washington law at issue here.”
They said the Washington statute is a parallel of California’s Civil Code §3344. The judges recited:
“In White, our court stressed that the robot had ‘mechanical features’ rather than ‘White’s precise features.’…A commercial using a celebrity’s hair, clothing, signature pose, and job as the hostess of a famous game show was not enough to establish that it had unlawfully used her likeness.”
Insufficient Distinctiveness
They continued:
“It would strain credulity, then, for us to conclude that the Prime Day commercial used Johnson’s likeness by showing Pete as a chef and in lace clothing holding a purple cell phone. Even construing Johnson’s allegations with the utmost liberality, wearing lace clothing, using a certain color of phone, and being a chef are not distinctive enough to constitute a ‘likeness.’ ”
The case is Johnson v. Amazon.com, Inc., 25-2101.
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