The actress suing Amazon.com and IMDb.com for publishing her real age on the web retailer’s popular entertainment information web site has dismissed her allegations of fraud, invasion of privacy and request for $1 million in punitive damages, but allowed her case to proceed on charges of breach-of-contract and violation of consumer protection law. The court’s actions Friday represented partial victories for both the plaintiff, actress Huong Hoang, and defendants Amazon and IMDb. The court also declined to consider awarding court costs to either side.
The federal court in Seattle ruled that Hoang’s fraud and privacy allegations weren’t sufficient to proceed and that her request for punitive damages ran counter to public policy and state Supreme Court precedent in Washington. The court however found that Hoang’s allegations that Amazon and IMDb improperly used her credit card information to obtain her age and other information published on IMDb had merit. You can read the court documents here.
Related: Actress Suing IMDb Now Has A Name
Related: Actress Sues IMDb For Revealing Her Age
She is a brave whistleblower and the judge made her out herself in order to sue over privacy issues! Madness. Go Junie! This proves her suit was about making a point of her right as a performer and consumer and not about money. Go Junie, thousands of writers,actors, directors, and crew are behind you cheering you on.
Privacy? LOL….She’s a Z-lister looking for her 15 minutes. When your resume highlights consist of I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant and Operation Repo, it’s time to admit your career is a failure and get a real job. The fact that people know her real age isn’t going to change the fact she doesn’t have the looks, talent, or connections to be successful in the biz.
Ah, Jackson, you old Troll. You come here on a Hollywood news site, secretly wishing you could touch those lights. BE one of those lights!
But you know you’re too bitter and angry and ugly inside to ever be one of the beautiful people. Or even one of the people that gets to hold a boom mike, write a script, create a costume, light, direct, or even provide craft services to one of the beautiful people.
At least you can come here and take cheap potshots at those who are having a hard time. Not the A-list celebrities, of course — you’re too cowardly to do that. You know you’re too ugly inside to even judge those people. You’re trapped in that nasty awkward adolescence, where you know you’re not in the league of the jocks and cheerleaders. And it makes you feel so ashamed.
All of us who’ve had the bravery to try to work in this town, and had any success at all in it? We all laugh at you. Every day.
“Go Junie, thousands of writers,actors, directors, and crew are behind you cheering you on.”
Really? I suppose I should get to work then… when I figure out who she is! Mmmmmnnnnnyyohhohohho that’s good sarcasm.
Go ahead and sue the sh** out of IMDB/Amazon. Unfortunately “ageism” does exist in Hollywood. There are plenty of actresses on IMDB whose “ages” are 3-5 years younger than they really are. If you know how to game the system, you can get away with it.
C’mon, it’s freaking Hollywood, the land of make believe. IMDB shouldn’t be so rigid and uptight and let actors and actresses put whatever age they want to put in their profiles. If enough actors/actresses bash IMDB, it loses cache and becomes another illegitimate site.
How dare these sites post accurate information! I mean what kind of a world do we live in when websites that do their best to maintain a reputable image don’t allow individuals to lie in order to advance their own careers?
I’ll add that Amazon and IMDB do get info wrong, but that is why I said “try”.
Accurate information?? Like your name, “frug”? Your comment comes across as hypocritical, naive and ignorant of not just the workings of this industry, but of your own psyche.
I don’t know where you work, but at my job, one has to fill out their age on the application. I know you all who work in “the business” think you’re special, but come on. Why should your job be any different? Every job I’ve ever worked at has you give your age. For God’s sake, it’s the second damn thing on the application after your name. Also, how is this worse than any of these background check websites that have popped up recently that post ALL of your personal information without any permission. In this day and age, everyone is so eager to blame one of their “isms” as reasons why things don’t work out. Before this, I bet she blamed being Asian as a reason she wasn’t getting jobs. Someone should just be honest with this lady and tell her that it’s her multiple credits in the Gingerdead Man “franchise” that are hurting her resume, not her age.
“Every job I’ve ever worked at has you give your age. For God’s sake, it’s the second damn thing on the application after your name.”
Really? Where on earth on you applying? Stripper bars?
Beyond confirming that you’re over 18, asking age is a legal third rail for most employers, because it sets them up for potential age discrimination lawsuits. And if you think that job applicants aren’t hurt by having their real age known, you are as young as you are naive.
Yes, I am a stripper…no but really. Are you saying your employer doesn’t have your personal info? Where do YOU work? Pretty sure all employers need it, nowadays. Root out illegals…I mean terrorists. I just hired someone today, and had to take his full name, birth date and social to run through a government program to make sure that he was a citizen. Also had to scan his license. Don’t know about your state, but in Maryland, this is required. Maybe where you live, things are different, but regardless of where I have been employed, I have had to give my age.
“Every job I’ve ever worked at has you give your age.”
Employees are not supposed to ask job candidates their age and candidates are not required to give it out. What world do you live in?
Besides that you clearly know nothing about the entertainment industry and more specifically acting. Ageism does exist big-time which is why many actors/actresses lie about their ages and/or don’t list their real age at all
I know this is like a week and a half old now, but I had to figure this out because, if I were wrong, I would be the first to admit it and apologize. However, that is not the case. I live in the same world as you, Britt, and that is a world in which you obviously have no idea what is going on. It took some super detective skills to notice that I do not work in the entertainment industry when my first post said something along the lines of how those who do think they are special. I went and spoke with the HR director in my office and had to discuss this. It is most certainly legal (and in some cases REQUIRED) to ask a potential employee their age. However, it is not legal to discriminate based on that information. If you’re a super important Hollywood big shot (I’m sure Britt and “a grown up” are which is why they have so much time to talk out of their asses on Deadline’s forums) then it most likely doesn’t matter for you, but many jobs require it because they do government work. Here in Maryland it is required that employers put all new employees through something called E Verify. It checks social security numbers, names, and birth dates to make sure that employees are citizens. Anytime we do government work we need to submit that info as well. So no I am not a stripper, but most likely the two people that jumped all over me for my earlier claims will still think they are above me because they work in Hollywood, but the fact of the matter is, you two both were wrong and have no idea what you are talking about. But then again, hopefully you are not white, Christian, males, so when you realize that ageism isn’t to blame for your troubles, you can go to another “ism” and continue living life thinking that people are against you and nothing is actually your fault.
Thousands of non-famous actors and actresses are in your debt, Ms. Hoang! We’re behind you and rooting for you to set a precedent. It’s one thing for imdb to post the ages of celebrities like Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. It’s quite another for them to post ages of us everyday actors – against our wills. Some of us look younger than our biological ages and can’t be seen for auditions because imdb won’t let us remove our real ages! Fine, keep the ages up for stars and celebrities because it won’t hurt their careers, but it hurts non-celebrities. Maybe you could keep the date up but not the year? What do you think?
It’s also a matter of identity theft. If our exact names and dates of birth (with year) are posted for all to see, then it’s much easier for criminals to steal our identities. It’s happened to me already twice! My own bank always asks me to prove my identity when I call on the phone by asking me my date of birth.
Hey imdb, let us non-famous actors (the 99% non-millionaires) decide if we want to keep our ages up on your site! You make your money off of us – please don’t continue to hurt our careers in the process.
Do you understand what ACTOR profession means? It means that once you become actor – you become public person. You no longer have privacy. If you will be lucky and become famous then paparazzi will hunt you. Tabloids will LIE about you in their publications…
That’s what comes with profession. You can’t demand privacy about your age. If you don’t like it then go and find some real work where you would have to work in office for 5 days a week. And not just smile for camera. As a viewer and person who pays to you (by going to movies) I want to go to IMDB and read biography and age of actor I so somewhere. And I don’t want to read your lies when you will be 42 and you will claim that you are 23 and demand role on Glee. I don’t want to see 42 years old teenager. J.Aniston is for example over 40. But she still wants to play some 25 years old romantic heroine. But she looks ridiculous when she tries. And if she would claim that she is 32 she still would look ridiculous.
And I would somehow maybe understand if that would be some semi known supporting actress. But this chick is completely z-lister. She has been in showbiz for so many years and still she didn’t star in any known movie or TV show. Even when she was young. Maybe that’s because she is bad actress and not because IMDB revealed her age.
And you know why you can’t find work? Why there are so many actors without job? Because there are too many “actors”. Every teenager finishes school and want’s to have easy money and fame and becomes “actor”. And then you all sit without work. Because on 1 role there are 100 of those so called “actors”.
Why are you on here? You clearly don’t understand anything about this profession.
You sound really bitter, and it’s clear that you don’t know a lot about this business. But more to the point, what is this?? “It means that once you become actor – you become public person. You no longer have privacy.” What are you, five years old?
“If you don’t like it then go and find some real work where you would have to work in office for 5 days a week. And not just smile for camera.”
So, according to you, acting is not real work, and all it entails is smiling for the camera??? I see… You must not have a lot of working actors in your life. And when was the last time J. Aniston was cast as a 25-year-old? Maybe you should stop watching Friends re-runs.
Look, you clearly needed to rant about “something”. But next time, try it with something about which you have some semblance of understanding. Like that office job you seem to hate so much.
I really hope that whatever mechanisms in your life are making you so obtuse turn around for you. Good luck.
Wow Shy, bitter much? Your post is completely incorrect & shows you know nothing about this business & are jealous of those who are lucky enough to be in it. The fact is, casting people discriminate against you based on your age. It doesn’t matter how young an actor may look. If they know they are older, they wont even let you audition. How would you feel if you had to deal with that everyday when you go on your job interviews at Marshalls?
This is still just a ridiculous lawsuit.
A failed actress who knows her career will never go anywhere, so she’s looking for another way to make a quick buck (and as an added bonus blame someone else for the fact that no one wants to hire her)
Face it, lady. You’re a nobody who will never make it. Just accept it and get a real job!
Well Brian if it doesn’t affect you, so why do you care unless you work for the company. She has a right to privacy and to pursue whatever job she chooses. Why don’t you get a real job where you can be bitter company troll for a better reason.
This is just the ugliest, ad hominem attack. That’s not an argument: she could just as easily state that being outed as older has denied her those opportunities. The glee and joy you take in calling her (a person I do not know) a failed actress is ugly and beneath the level of even decent debate. Just foul.
I think everyone in her position deserves respect for fighting on this issue. It’s harsh and harsher still for women.
Look at her resume….she was never going to get any decent roles regardless if her age is known. To say otherwise, is to be in complete denial of reality.
I know what it looks like on the surface, but I try not to judge content based on appearance. I find that mindset shallow, lazy, and prone to error.
I don’t presume to know her or the level of her talents and drive. I assume you also don’t know her, her life circumstances (which may have contributed to the state of her resume), or the range of her abilities. Her resume is only a list of the work that she’s done. To make an uninformed, sweeping generalization based on that and say that someone “was never going to (fill in the blank)” is to claim clairvoyance. And THAT is to be in complete denial of reality.
Does this mean IMDB will remove our ages?
She looks younger than 40. Whoops. I said her age. Guess she’ll sue me, too.
Keep in mind that this picture is professional and is photo-shopped. Like all those Madonna and Demi Moor magazine pictures. And could be 10 years old. She doesn’t look like that in real life. No wonder she send to casting agents those pictures and then completely different person comes to auditions. I wish they would stop using this photoshoped picture on sites.
And what’s next? They will forbid IMDB to post age and then they will sue and demand to forbid IMDB to post their real pictures because it invades their privasy and hurts their chances to get role? And only post photo shopped pictures where they look 20 years younger.
Went to school with one of current biggest male names in Hollywood, who is now 3 years younger than me! Funny old world.
I hope she wins. IMDB are a bunch of scum.
There are a thousand reasons why casting or producers don’t want to hire a particular actor. True, they sometimes look up ages to determine if someone is right, but part of the problem is frosty photoshopped headshots that look nothing like the actors! Trust, even if she was called in for roles for late 20s, she’s not fooling anyone at the audition and she’s certainly not fooling HD. She probably got some of her bookings because those hiring could check out all of her credits on imdb. Instead of eliminating age on imdb, people should be allowed to opt-out of being listed on the website at all.
So she wants to provde false information to a company, and them sue them when they publish the truth?!? Did she give false info to dmv or other companies???
right, because the dmv and a private company are the same thing. And you are obliged to tell your information to a private company. And you are obliged to tell them the truth. What an asinine idea. By publishing your private info, they are breaching an important line. Period.
Dear God! That woman is OLD AS HELL!
I don’t care who knows my age. But why am I listed as “Known for…” One Life to Live, a soap opera I did three episodes of 20+ years ago? Or, The Three Stooges, a made for TV film that aired once in 2001? People “know” me for Sex and the City, and Californication, and The West Wing, and Studio 60, and Too Big to Fail, and Ransom. But, though I’ve tried to point it out to IMDB, nothing on the page ever changes. No one is listening. No one (gasp) cares.
Well, the IMDB has something in common with the audience of those shows: they both don’t give a f*ck about you.
If that is the real Evan Handler I love the guy in Californication, he is the funny ‘slimy’ agent for the David Duchovny character.
I personally don’t think IMDB should be liable for providing accurate information, I do however think the acting community and other groups listed upon the site should have the right to determine whether they are listed upon that site at all.
If IMDB insists that they have the right to list public information of known public figures, then they should be held liable if they do not provide accurate information. How many times do they list false information and you are not allowed to correct it. I do not however mean that you should be able to change information at will, but there should be verifiable proof for anything listed under your name.
Off course the above does not include having the right to deceive people and using the site to help you in said deceit, because you can not attain a job through the truth.
Congratulations, HG! You got your snarky comment published on DHD for no pay. Now, what else have you done with your (anonymous) life? I happen to have enjoyed EH’s performances in several of those shows (I missed OLTL, thank you very much), so you’re not speaking for me. I can only guess about others, but my guess us you’re wrong about a lot of them, too.
Well, while I think the lawsuit is bullshit, if you’re the real Evan Handler I can tell you I do not agree with the previous comment; I happen to think that Charlie is the only consistently funny character on Californication and the only exchange I actually remember from Too Big to Fail was:
“How would you like to own a piece of Goldman Sachs?”
“Sounds expensive.”
“Maybe not…”
Well, Evan, you’re awesome and you might be happy to know that when you go to IMDB, Californication and SATC are in your known for.
You are so right Evan, love ya.
Who will she sue when it’s revealed that she is a real idiot?
Wait, you mean to tell me her career never took off after her role in HOODRATS 2: HOODRAT WARRIORS?? (Sadly I am NOT making this up).
If it’s true that they used credit card information to obtain her true DoB then I’d say she has a legitimate case against those who posted her age. But if she is simply mad that they corrected false information then she doesn’t have a leg to stand on.
I mean should Latin American baseball players (who lie about their ages even more than actors) be allowed to sue anytime the media debunks their ages?
If you aspire to be a public figure then you can’t get upset if people try and correct your lies.
Now tell us how you really feel, lol.
Please explain to me how this is different from an investigative journalist who digs up information on subjects, compiles it and sells it in the form of digital, televised or print news? This is ridiculous, pure and simple. It’s a loser looking for their fifteen minutes and a small payout. Amazon will flatten her and she’s just ensured she’ll never work again.
Obvious answer: Because her age isn’t news.
Second obvious answer: Because IMDB isn’t a news outlet.
IMDB is a private service that took her credit card information and–WITHOUT HER PERMISSION–printed her real age. The analogy here isn’t investigative journalism; it’s what if IMDB got your medical records and published something that would make an employer think twice about hiring you. (Fortunately, we’re now all protected from that, but we used not to be.)
Age discrimination is real in this country and it’s not restricted just to actors. If you ever hope to be employed in America past age 45, you need to be on her side.
Everything in your post is subjective and when it comes to the First Amendment the courts tend to go with the broadest definitions. But since you’re so grown up perhaps you’ll enlighten us by definitively explaining for all of us idiots exactly what constitutes a news outlet vs. a service and what is/should be considered news. I live in downtown Los Angeles. There was a shooting two blocks from my apartment two weeks ago. I went to every local news site to try and find out what happened. All I could find was a story about someone throwing a sack of flower at Kim Kardashian on the red carpet. News is quite subjective as well my friend…
Do yourself a favor: Don’t try to get a job as a reporter. I’ve been one. So here’s how it goes from my jaded editors: Dog Bites Man is not news. Man Bites Dog is.
Thus, actress lies about her age–not news. Random shooting in urban area (unfortunately) not news, unless you’ve got space to fill.
Actress sues company over exposing her age–news. Unarmed teenager shot by vigilante neighbor in gated community–news.
Kardashians news until they stop selling magazines/generating page views. Then, Kardashians old news. If people stop buying and stop clicking, then we can all live in a Kardashian-free world.
Additionally, it depends on the market. Things are news in trade publications that wouldn’t be news in general publications. Thus, if you’re publishing “Actors Age Weekly,” an actress’s age might be news, but an asteroid hitting Chicago would not be unless it destroyed a database that had actors’ real ages.
IMDB in this case is not serving as a news outlet–it offered a professional service for actors, then violated the trust of the people who signed up for it.
And no, I’m not being an objective reporter on that one. I’m completely on her side. Why? Because I know what the hell age discrimination is like, and how hard it is to fight unless you want to risk (as she is) sacrificing everything. It’s time for all of us to push back against age discrimination, because even if you don’t believe it exists now, trust me, you will in twenty years.
She’ll probably get surgery and Botox now that she is so old. I feel bad for her. She had twenty years of looking young to make an impact in Hollywood and she blew it by picking lousy roles. Her money is drying up and needs a fat paycheck maybe? Can you blame her?
I hope she spends her lawsuit winnings wisely because she is screwed unless she saves up or gets a real job.
She seems like she wanted to be a famous star and never made it. So sad for her.
Plus, does age evn matter if you are unattractive? Hollywood tends to try and cast pretty women of that may be part of the reason for her failed career.
Good luck on the suit Junie get some of that cash other people worked hard for I have faith in you, you can do it! Just because your career went nowhere doesn’t mean you aren’t able to hire a lawyer and get some free cash!
Woo hoo you can do it we believe in you! Take down those corporate dogs!
If the lawsuit fails maybe they will make ‘GingerDead 4!’
I really hope she will lose. Because it’s not like IMDB lied. They told the truth. And this woman is suing IMDB for the fact that she can’t lie anymore because anyone can go to IMDB and see her age. She is FRAUD and LIAR. Isn’t this enough that those almost 30 years old people on Glee play teenagers. Soon enough they will lie and say to our faces they they really are 18. And we would never know the truth because they will shut down IMDB.
Did anyone actually read the article? Her argument (now) is that these websites used confidential payment information to extract her age, and THEN posted it to the Internet without her permission. That’s a valid claim. And even though the ship has sailed on preserving her “real” age, she’s doing a great thing bringing this to the court’s attention, for future actors and actresses who may not want their private purchases (e.g. IMDB Pro) to affect their careers (especially in one where age DOES matter).
All this means is that the judge thought that this was a question with enough merit for a jury to hear it, not that IMDb has actually done this. What I don’t actually know, not being a lawyer, is whether fault would lie with IMDb or the credit card company who provided the information if this is in fact true. IMDb would have had to ask them for the information (it doesn’t just appear) and I don’t know whether the fault lies with the company who asked for the info or the company who provided it. I still think the case has very little merit.
The takeaway: You work for IMDB and are about to be fired by Amazon for your incompetence.
While there is certainly truth to the fact that this woman’s career is not going the way she’d hoped and now she is lashing out at someone to make up for that failure, some of the comments above are correct in that regard but I feel far too harsh and hateful in proportion to the real issue. Some of the men especially are concentrating the hate against the actress and not on what Amazon and IMDB have done.
Well as a man with a law degree and no dog in the fight, I can tell you that while revealing a person’s age against their wishes pretty much is an invasion of privacy, legally the harm would be very tough to prove in court. The fraud allegation is also bogus. However, secretly using credit card info without notification and publishing it could be construed as downright illegal in court which is why the judge is correct to let it go forward on those grounds alone.
Regardless of her reasons why, the fact is she wanted to keep her age to herself. Just as a fair number of ordinary people do. Look, how would you feel if it was the sexual orientation or religion or racial background of the person that had been revealed? What if it was done to you against your wishes?
Whether you support her or not, let’s be honest, we all know that if she was as successful as Angelina Jolie this wouldn’t even be a news item. The fact that a failed actress is the one who is finally taking them to the table on this is certainly regrettable, because it brings up a credibility issue and we all know it. Hence some of the nastier comments above. But honestly, who else was finally going to the one to call them on it? Not a successful actress who could care less about IMDB, that’s for sure. It would only be someone who was either pissed off or desperate enough to do it.
How the corporate legal at the multimillion dollar corporation running these sites didn’t see this one coming is beyond me. Now they’re stuck fighting this thing all the way because they cannot settle or lose this lawsuit. Doing so would likely result in a lot of unhappy actor claiming discrimination and invasion of privacy and every one of them would have a precedent to sue. Trust me, their corporate legal already knows this.
If they do lose, BTW, you may potentially also expect other sites such as Wikipedia and MySpace to stop posting people’s ages publicly as well to protect themselves legally.
All this said, let’s all wait and see what the end result is. This is all just starting up. It may go away quietly or blow up into something much bigger. We won’t know until it actually does wind its way through the courts. The results will certainly be interesting.
NO SITES should ever publish anyone’s birthdates or social security numbers on the internet period! It’s dangerous because of identity theft. Even for this industry, the people who want to hire her they should be experienced enough by just looking at someone and know what ” age range ” that actor can play in, exact age doesn’t matter when it comes to roles, they always cast within age range. However it is dangerous for anyone to have their private information such as social security numbers or birthdates displayed on the internet for millions to see….they should omit that all together, that is how identity theft occur, easy access when you least expect it!
They didn’t publish her SS#, just her DOB, which while useful in identity theft isn’t exactly closely guarded (how many people have this in their Facebook profile, for example??).
I used to work at an agency. There are two big reasons why actors don’t get jobs and neither of them has anything to do with talent.
First reason: The headshots that look nothing like the actor who ends up walking into the audition. I’ve been stunned when a frumpy middle-aged actress with bad skin has handed me a headshot in which, with the superpowers of photoshop, managed to turn herself into a 19 year old knockout. Please, actors! Your headshots should look good. But they should also look like you.
Second reason: Too many actors (whether it’s at the behest of their low-life agents or not) put a whole bunch of fake credits on the back of their headshot. Sometimes it’s completely made up credits. Other times they tweak the name of a known TV show or movie and bill themselves as the lead. Enough with the lying! Are these actors so stupid that they think casting agents don’t check IMDB to verify credits?
I’d only be a hypocrite if I was suing people for publishing my real name to advance my career.