Olympian Claims Nike Peed in His Money Pool

Just because you're not Michael Phelps doesn't mean anyone can just use your image any way they want.

Olympic hero Jason Lezak -- a seven-time Olympic medalist who is most remembered for swimming the anchor leg of the 4x100 relay at the Beijing Olympic Games -- is suing Nike (and a swimming apparel website) because he claims they used his image in an ad without his permission.

According to a lawsuit filed Tuesday, Lezak does not have a deal with either of them and has never received any payment for the ad.

He is seeking unspecified damages.



Tags: beijing, jason lezak, JasonLezak, lawsuit, nike, olympics, swimming

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1. FIRST

Posted at 12:34PM on Jul 9th 2009 by RK

2. FIRST LOSERS.

Posted at 12:35PM on Jul 9th 2009 by Pook www.justin.tvpookeo

3. yes its true. i only bought my Nike's because of this dude. He deserves billions in damages....trillions even.

Posted at 12:37PM on Jul 9th 2009 by Billy Marx

4. he's all wet.

Posted at 12:39PM on Jul 9th 2009 by Rev Sharpton

5. He gave me a breast stroke.

Posted at 1:06PM on Jul 9th 2009 by Oprah

6. Good for him. Shame on Nike a multimillion (if not billion) dollar company for not forking over some money for the use of the guy's immage.

Posted at 1:05PM on Jul 9th 2009 by Pammy

7. who cares

Posted at 4:06PM on Jul 9th 2009 by alicia

8. Yeah I agree it is odd that they didn't get permission first, but it's kinda odd for him to create a harsh light on a former sponsor it makes people not want to work with you or casts a bad light on how he treats people who team up with him. He should have done it under closed doors or taken it to them directly by suing them it makes them think twice about sponsoring him in the future.

Posted at 1:31PM on Jul 9th 2009 by watch tv online

9. unfortunately monies made from shoe sales out weight legal costs like these. NIKE has and will keep doing this. All hail money hungry monkies.

Posted at 1:33PM on Jul 9th 2009 by True American

10. EXPOSE THE STORY AND STAY WITH IT.....THANKS FOR THE HEADS UP

Posted at 1:36PM on Jul 9th 2009 by good job tmz

11. Nike is not a company blessed with the milk of human kindness.

Posted at 2:11PM on Jul 9th 2009 by Frog Man

12. Yeah I'm not sure why they didn't get the permission to get his "OK" for the ad, but they will likely pay. You can see the ads here with his mug on them at lemonparty.org Cheers!!!!

Posted at 2:18PM on Jul 9th 2009 by Hanz Gruber

13. This stud needs to get laid. ME FIRST!

Posted at 3:44PM on Jul 9th 2009 by Tony

14. I have to take exception to Frogman's comments about Nike's lack of human kindness. I work at Nike, am there right now. I may not always agree with some of the decisions made by this company, but I stand by there rock solid reputation when it comes to helping others in need. Do you have any idea how many thousands & thousands of shoes we give to underprivileged children each year? How much food we donate to food banks? How many school supplies we give out to financially strapped school districts? How many lunches we put together and distribute to our local homeless groups? We do this on a regular schedule. These are not one-shot things that we do once and never do again. We also have an employee program where Nike will match us dollar-for-dollar when we donate to any non-profit organizations. I use this myself, many times a year to donate to my favorite animal sanctuaries. Like I said, I may not always agree with some of the business decisions made, but I stand behind the human kindess issue. Nike is the real deal when it comes to that.

Posted at 3:55PM on Jul 9th 2009 by Lizzer

15. this is one very hot dude. I would definitely do his laundry, cook all of his meals and wash his feet for him. He oozes studliness.

Posted at 4:25PM on Jul 9th 2009 by Brian

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