A sprained ankle might be keeping Tony Parker off the court right now, but his lawyers are suited up and ready to go.
NBA star's camp filed a $40 million defamation lawsuit Wednesday against celebrity photo agency X17online, which was the first outlet to run with a French model's claim that she and Parker had an affair two months after he swapped vows with Eva Longoria, E! Online confirms. (View the complaint.)
X17, which published Alexandra Paressant's allegations, copies of what the 26-year-old said were text messages she and Parker exchanged and other documents that purportedly supported her story, "had to know that the story was false, or at the very least, it had to have entertained serious doubts about the credibility of its supposed source," the complaint states.
Just hours after the story surfaced last week, Parker and Longoria released statements reaffirming their commitment to each other, and Parker has since said that he has never even met Paressant, much less had an affair with her.
"Celebrities are easy targets—both for those who would seek their own fame and fortune by fabricating salacious stories about them, no matter how damaging or hurtful, and for those who make their living publishing these false and defamatory lies, no matter how patently baseless," says the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.
X17's allegedly shoddy reporting has caused Parker "substantial harm...in complete disregard for the truth and of even a semblance of journalistic integrity," attorney Stanton "Larry" Stein wrote.
According to the suit, none of the company's reporters contacted Parker's people to verify Paressant's story before posting its first related item, an exclusive time-stamped Dec. 12, 2007 at 9:28 a.m. and headlined "I Slept with Tony Parker," and no efforts were made to retract the sordid tale after X17 "was informed, in no uncertain terms" that the story was false.
The last item pertaining to the case, titled "Tony Parker's Lover Speaks to X17Online," was posted Wednesday at 9:30 a.m.
After learning that a lawsuit was in the works, X17 said in a statement to E! Online Tuesday that its journalists "conducted extensive research for the reporting of this story," one that the gossip site felt was definitely "significant and newsworthy" enough to merit persistent coverage.
Stein's office had no additional comment to make Wednesday after the complaint was filed.
The lawsuit reiterates Parker's position as having never crossed paths with Paressant.
"If this woman exists, he has no way of knowing whether she is one of the many fans who have, from time to time, managed to obtain his cell phone number and called or left messages or who may have engaged him in conversation," the suit says.
Parker has also charged X17 with false light invasion of privacy. He is seeking an injunction preventing the paparazzi agency from republishing or in any other way further disseminating the infidelity allegations and at least $40 million in damages, plus attorneys' fees and related costs.