RHOBH Star Garcelle Beauvais Hit With Federal Lawsuit Over Facebook Post

Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Garcelle Beauvais might have thought her troubles ended when Lisa Rinna exited the series. According to Rinna, her late mother visited her in a dream and advised her to take a pause. Thank you, Lois, for doing us a solid.

While the drama on the show might have calmed down after the biggest spoon in the mess pot left, Garcelle has a new issue to face. Now she’s being smacked with a federal lawsuit over a Facebook post. Radar has the details.

Garcelle’s permission problem

Court documents show Garcelle is being sued by photographer, John Carta. John is mad because he funds his lifestyle by selling pics to third parties. When Garcelle visited New York in 2022, John snapped some images of her walking around.

The photos are described as, “Garcelle Beauvais standing with her hand out in the streets of NYC carrying a handbag while wearing denim shorts and a black satin-like blouse.” He does have a copyright for the pics, but Garcelle posted them on her Facebook without giving proper credit. John also said she did so without paying him.

No pay, no post

The legal papers state, “[Garcelle], without permission or authorization from [John], actively copied and/or displayed [John’s] photographs on the Account and engaged in this misconduct knowingly and in violation of the United States copyright laws.”

The photographer further implies he applied all of his professional skills and chose the “subject matter, timing, lighting, angle, perspective, depth, lens, and camera equipment used to capture the image.”

Additionally, John said he was planning on trying to make a buck off the pics but Garcelle blew that out of the water when she posted the pics he took “for free” on her social media. She is accused of using John’s pics “to advance her brand and reputation.”

I wonder if he even reached out to her before going to court. The lawsuit says, “The Account is monetized in that it contains endorsements and promotes [Garcelle’s] celebrity profile and upon information and belief, [Garcelle] profits from these activities.”

John said Garcelle posted the photos on May 17, 2023. “Without permission or authorization from Plaintiff, [Garcelle] volitionally copied and/or displayed [John’s] copyright protected Photographs on the Account,” he alleged.

He believes Garcelle knowingly and willfully violated his copyrights and shared the images anyway. John also stated Garcelle gained financial benefits as a direct response to illegally posting his pics, as he thinks his photos increased views to her Facebook account.

John is looking to get unspecified damages for his troubles in addition to a court order which would prohibit Garcelle from doing this to him again in the future. At this time, she has not responded to the matter.

TELL US – DO YOU THINK THE PHOTOGRAPHER HAS A CASE? DO YOU THINK GARCELLE WILL GO TO COURT OR SETTLE?