Star of Viral Catcall Video Sues Director, Says He Kept All The Profits
You may remember the insanely popular video, “10 Hours of Walking in NYC as a Woman,” which featured a woman being catcalled and harassed on the street more than 100 times over a 10-hour period, which circulated last November. It inspired mocking parodies, copycat experiments, hoaxes, and even a T.G.I. Friday’s commercial. Now, months after the video’s peak, TMZ reports its star is suing the director.
Shoshana Roberts, the woman who was catcalled repeatedly in the video, believes she didn’t get everything she was promised for appearing in the video, although her attorney admits she didn’t have a written contract. She’s suing director Rob Bliss and street harassment awareness campaign Hollaback for $500,000.
Roberts’ lawyer refused to confirm to TMZ whether she was paid to appear in the video, but she told something called Enchantress Magazine a couple of months ago that she was—just not very much:
Believe it or not, I only got paid $200 after the fact; the director put it on his YouTube account. I signed up to raise awareness and was told nobody would be making money. It all went to the director; He didn’t give any of that money to Hollaback! But I’ve met so many wonderful people and had so many amazing conversations as a result of this. I’m happy I did the video, but I’ve had a lot of emotional repercussions as a result of it, as well.
In that interview, she also lamented that no good acting gigs had emerged as a result of her viral fame. She still refers to herself as #catcallgirl on Twitter and Instagram, though.
Roberts is also suing YouTube—where the video has 40 million views—and its parent company, Google. TMZ doesn’t specify whether she’s seeking money from them, or just to have the video taken down.
And’s she suing T.G.I. Friday’s over this ad, where her role is played by various fried appetizers. Sure, why not?