We haven’t done a WTF of the day in quite a while, but this would definitely be one of those stories. Jake Gyllenhaal and his band of lawyers are trying to prove that a photo circulating around the internet depicting what appears to be him in his underwear, striking a Grace Jones pose, and looking pretty good doing it is defamatory. I’m sorry, but WTF?
The lawyers sent a cease and desist letter to Qweerty.com and Buzzfeed.com after both sites posted the photo as something irrelevant and funny. While Buzzfeed caved to their demands, Queerty says they’ll keep it up because no one has actually proved it’s not legitimate and because the fact that they received a letter makes it “newsworthy.”
Okay, I get that Gyllenhaal says it’s not him and if you’ve seen the photo (here), you’ll agree it’s certainly possible that it was photoshopped. So, alright, it’s potentially not really him and if that’s so, it technically portrays him in a false light. Yes, it falsely accuses him of having strong enough abdominal muscles to stand in that pose, and it false portrays him as light-hearted enough to let someone take a picture of him doing it. We get that. But this is bad why?
First of all, if it is photoshopped, welcome to the internet, Mr Gyllenhaal. Second of all, either way, does he really think that this photo would affect his ability to be cast in films? He’s a decent, very attractive actor with beautiful blue eyes and chiseled features. That’s why he gets cast in films. Did anything bad happen to Matthew McConaughey’s career when he was found high as a kite, playing the bongos in his birthday suit? Nope. Because he’s an alright, very attractive actor with a Southern drawl that attracts women faster than a Diane Von Furstenberg sample sale. Basically, while the lawyers could technically be right, and they may be able to rustle up a few folks who’ll testify that this could hurt his future paycheck-garnering ability, but you know what? All this hullabaloo over a stupid internet photo is ten-times worse for his reputation than the photo itself. If he keeps this up, he’ll end up looking like a bratty, self-important actor and even if that’s who he really is, your average movie-goer just may not be that into buying what he’s selling any more.
Source: THR
