Hilary Swank is ready to touch gloves and come out fightin' -- she's filed a lawsuit against a company in Southern California for allegedly using pics of her from "Million Dollar Baby" in their ads ... without her permission.
According to a lawsuit filed last week in L.A. Superior Court, Swank says a company called Robert's Home Audio and Video used pictures of her in their ad campaign without prior consent, a violation of her right of publicity.
The lawsuit does not go in to detail about exactly how the images were used ... but does devote 14 pages to listing her credits and awards. Clearly someone does not have a problem publicizing themselves.
Ya hang out with one blood-thirsty warlord ... and your whole life falls apart ... so seems to be the story with Hilary Swank.
The 2-time Oscar winner was dropped by her publicity team at the fancy 42West public relations company over a disagreement on how best to handle the mess caused by her appearance at a birthday party for Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov last month ... this according to EW.com.
As TMZ previously reported, Swank gave a big 'ol speech at the Oct. 5 event ... bragging about how she did her "research" about the president before she hit the stage that night.
After the media pointed out that Kadyrov has been accused of participating in scores of bad things ... including the brutal murders of his political rivals ... she reportedly fired her manager and released a statement saying, "If I had a full understanding of what this event was apparently intended to be ... I would never have gone."
Hilary Swank got serious backlash after appearing at the birthday party for a murdering warlord ... so she's reportedly firing the people who put her in that position.
Swank attended a concert in Chechnya for president Ramzan Kadyrov on October 5 and immediately took heat from human rights groups ... probably because Kadyrov has a section on his Wikipedia page devoted entirely to his alleged human rights abuses.
Swank apologized, but according to The Independent ... it's her manager, Jason Weinberg, who is sorry now. The paper says he was let go last week and two of her agents at CAA, Amie Yavor and Josh Lieberman, are next to go.
Not among those getting the boot -- her agent/boyfriend, John Campisi.
Emails to Swank's camp (what's left of them) were not returned.
Hilary Swank may owe the world ANOTHER apology ... because her first "I'm Sorry" letter for appearing at an event honoring an alleged bloodthirsty warlord ... had some MAJOR holes ... and the evidence is all on tape!!
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Hilary Swank says she probably should have said "no" ... when she was invited to a birthday party for the President of Chechnya last week ... saying she had no idea he's been accused of torturing and killing a bunch of people.
Swank -- along with Jean Claude Van Damme and others -- attended a concert in Chechnya for president Ramzan Kadyrov on Oct. 5 ... and immediately came under fire from human rights groups.
Now, Swank has issued a statement ... saying, "I deeply regret attending this event. If I had a full understanding of
what this event was apparently intended to be, I would never have gone."
Swank says at the time she accepted the invitation to the concert ... she had no idea the event was intended to honor Kadyrov.
FYI -- Kadyrov has been accused of torturing and murdering a BUNCH of his political rivals, though Kadyrov says it's all BS ... made up by his enemies to discredit him.
UPDATE: Swank gave a speech at the event ... and even said, HAPPY BIRTHDAY" to the President. When someone on stage asked how Hilary knew about Kadyrov's birthday, she replied, "I read ... I do my research."
Hilary Swank was straight up called "not pretty" by a radio host -- which begs the question ... IS Hilary Swank actually un-pretty? FINALLY, an issue that brings NPR and TMZ together!
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Hilary Swank's hotness level has long been a subject of debate -- it was an entire storyline on "The Office" once -- but during a radio interview yesterday, Hilary got a brutally honest verdict from the host.
It all went down on KCRW -- when host Kim Masters tried to ask Hilary if she's finding "fewer good roles" as she gets older. Hilary explained that aging women can still find quality work in Hollywood -- and used Meryl Streep as an example.
That's when Masters quipped, "But she's the exception ... she's not like the pretty girl ... and you're not either."
Swank jokingly replied, "Hey what are you trying to say?" ... before saying she "completely" understood Kim's point.
Ginnifer Goodwin, 34, and Hilary Swank, 36, shared the spotlight and a smile while posing for a picture on a red carpet in West Hollywood on Wednesday.
Gloria Allred and some of the family members of the murder victim portrayed in the new Hilary Swank movie "Conviction" were treated to a private screening of the film last night ... and it just reiterated the idea that they want Hilary to meet with the family of Katharina Brow.
Brow's murder is the subject of the film and, as TMZ first reported, the family is upset they were never consulted about the making of the movie. Allred -- along with Brow's grandson Taylor and Taylor's father Eugene -- caught a private screening of the film last night.
Taylor and Eugene both expressed how difficult the movie was to watch and Allred told us that seeing Katharina portrayed on screen, and having her name used throughout the film, just reiterates the idea that Hilary Swank (the star and executive producer of the film) should meet with the Brow's family.
Gloria Allred was not ignored ... Producers of "Conviction" have invited G.A. -- along with the family of the murdered woman portrayed in the film -- to a private screening Friday night.
But TMZ has learned that Brow's children, Melrose and Charlie, will not attend the screening because they say the film will bring back "very painful memories of their mother's murder." Instead Melrose's son and his father will be there with Allred.
Gloria held one of her famous news conferences earlier this week to express extreme displeasure over the fact that producers -- in particular Hilary Swank -- never consulted Katharina Brow's kids before shooting the movie. The film focuses on how the sister of the man convicted of murdering Brow in 1980 helped free him 18 years after the fact ... based on DNA evidence.
The private screening will take place tonight at 7 PM in Los Angeles. No word if producers are throwing in the popcorn.
Before Justin Bieber went toe-to-toe with a photographer -- sparking a police investigation -- he trained with "Iron" Mike Tyson! Wondering how they ended up together? Well, we got Tyson on the phone ... and you won't believe his excuse for kicking it with Biebs. Plus,…
Hilary Swank is ready to touch gloves and come out fightin' -- she's filed a lawsuit against a company in Southern California for allegedly using pics of her from "Million Dollar Baby" in their ads ... without her permission.
