Maybe they should have Googled her first.
A Manhattan woman says People magazine slimed her by incorrectly identifying her as the mistress of Google co-founder Sergey Brin.
In papers filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, Nathalie De Clercq, 30, says the gossip bible ran a picture of her wearing Google Glass while on a bike ride in Central Park – and identified her as the married Brin’s alleged girlfriend Amanda Rosenberg, a Google employee.
She said she has no connection to any of the players in the story, which was headlined, “Google Love Triangle: Billion Dollar Breakup?”
People and the photo agency “brought De Clercq into this story by misidentifying a photograph taken of her while she was riding a bicycle through the streets of New York as a photograph of Rosenberg,” the suit says.
“Both Rosenberg and De Clercq are Eurasian and have long dark hair. Rather than find a photograph of Rosenberg, defendants used a photograph of Ms. De Clercq,” the $4 million libel suit says.
“Ms. De Clercq does not even know Brin, let alone did she ever have any kind of relationship with him,” the filing says, and she “does not know Rosenberg either.”
Her lawyer, Jeffrey Eilender, said De Clercq quickly heard about the pic from friends, and the goof has turned her into “a laughingstock.”
The techie has been trying to start her own Internet business, “and has been handicapped by being the object of ridicule and derision,” the suit says.
“Her reputation has been harmed and it’s difficult for her to go on with her life,” Eilender said.
A rep for People publisher Time Inc. declined comment, citing the pending litigation.
