Is Biggest Loser's Jillian Michaels a Big Fraud?

Celebrity weight-loss guru sued for endorsing a diet product that failed to do the trick for one California woman

By Josh Grossberg Feb 10, 2010 8:46 PMTags
Jillian Michaels, The Biggest LoserMitchell Haaseth/NBC

This isn't the kind of action Jillian Michaels is used to inspiring.

The Biggest Loser's star trainer is being called a big fraud in a lawsuit claiming her diet supplements don't work as advertised.

The complaint, filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court by California native Christie Christensen, alleges that Jillian Michaels Maximum Strength Calorie Control—which features the fitness guru's picture and endorsement by "America's Toughest Trainer"—did not help Christensen shed the pounds.

Now she wants revenge...and is hoping to get class-action status allowing others to join the fray.

In her court filing, Christensen says she didn't get the results promised on the packaging: "Two Capsules Before Main Meals and You Lose Weight...That's It!"

"Ms. Michaels knows better—taking two pills before eating does not miraculously cause weight loss," the plaintiff states.

Also named in the suit are Thin Care International and Utah-based Basic Research, the companies which produce and market the supplement, respectively.

If granted class-action status, the suit hopes to recoup unspecified damages totaling no more than $5 million to be split among those who bought the supplement.

Michaels' rep, Heidi Krupp, was unavailable for comment.

But it's worth noting that both MIchaels' website and the Calorie Control packaging indicate the supplement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The product also does not appear for sale on NBC's Biggest Loser website.

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