NY governor scandal: Call girl’s lawyer says photos used without consent

This photograph from MySpace shows Ashley Alexandra Dupre, 22, the woman reportedly behind the downfall of New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. AFP

NEW YORK, Saturday, AP - The lawyer for the call girl linked to the downfall of Gov. Eliot Spitzer lashed out at the media for thrusting the 22-year-old woman into the ''public glare'' without her consent and publishing revealing photos.

Since her identity was disclosed, newspapers and Web sites have splashed photos of Ashley Alexandra Dupre in suggestive poses on front and inside pages. Dupre was known as ''Kristen'' in court documents accusing Spitzer of paying thousands for prostitutes' services.

Her attorney, Don D. Buchwald, said Friday she did not consent to the use of her photos in this manner, and the usage may be a violation of federal copyright laws. He said the photos have appeared on commercial Web sites without her consent.

Buchwald stopped short of saying Dupre would sue media outlets, but he contended that she is not a public figure and said he would take ''all steps that we deem necessary or appropriate to protect Ms. Dupre from any unwarranted exploitation of her name, picture, voice or likeness for purposes of profit.''

He did not specify the publications to which he was referring. The New York Post ran four photos yesterday in which Dupre, topless, barely covers her breasts, as well as two other images of her scantily clad.

The pictures, credited in the paper to Wesley Mann at Contact Press Images, have become an Internet sensation. The Post had no comment on Buchwald's statement.

The Daily News of New York also published a photo in which Dupre appears to be topless, but it was not clear where the image came from.

The Daily News did not return calls seeking comment. Other media outlets, including The New York Times and The Associated Press, published other images that were from Dupre's MySpace page. The AP distributed three of those images, in one of which she is wearing a bikini, and issued a disclaimer authorizing the use of the photos only with reports or commentary on the Spitzer scandal.