Reality TV star Paris Hilton has sued a Panama-based Internet company for $30 million, claiming that it illegally distributed a now-infamous tape of her having sex with an ex-boyfriend.
Hilton, who describes herself in the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit as a model and actress, sued Kahatani Ltd. for violation of privacy, illegal business practices and infliction of emotional distress.
The 22-year-old socialite -- best known as star of the Fox reality TV show “The Simple Life” -- seeks $15 million in actual damages and another $15 million in punitive damages.
Hilton, whose grandfather founded the Hilton hotel chain, asserts in the lawsuit that the grainy, black-and-white videotape depicts her and then-boyfriend Rick Solomon in ”intimate relations” and was not meant for others to see.
“Hilton intended the videotape only for personal use and never intended or consented that it be shown to anyone else or distributed to the public,” the lawsuit says.
Solomon, a video entrepreneur, in November sued Hilton and her family, claiming that they slandered him by suggesting that he took advantage her.