Kathryn Stockett, author of the bestselling book The Help, is being sued by a former babysitter for her family for invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Ablene Cooper, the former babysitter, claims she was the basis of the character “Aibileen” since they have similar names, both worked for a white family in Jackson, Mississippi and are both middle-aged black women with a gold tooth and a deceased son. Cooper claims she asked Stockett not to portray her in the book prior to publication, but Stockett refused. As such, she is suing for “appropriation of another’s identity for an unpermitted use.”
Cooper also claims to be highly embarrassed by the portrayal of the character Aibileen in The Help, which is a novel about Southern domestic workers and their white employers. She claims to be offended by the ethnic vernacular the character uses and that the character’s skin color is compared to a cockroach. She claims this “portrayal of Ablene in such a false light is highly offense to a reasonable person” and “has caused Ablene to experience severe emotional distress.” Cooper has filed suit in Hinds County Circuit Court in Mississippi and is seeking damages of $75,000. Although Stockett has yet to respond to the suit, her publisher contends that The Help is purely a work of fiction. Therefore, it seems likely that Stockett will argue that the suit should be dismissed on First Amendment grounds.
Full Complaint: http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2011/02/maid-sues-author-of-help.html
WSJ article: http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052748703561604576150731091505132-lMyQjAxMTAxMDEwODExNDgyWj.html