Benyak sues Cook over ‘torture porn’ ads
Former state House candidate Alan Benyak is accusing his rival in the 2016 election of falsely claiming during the race for the 49th District seat that Benyak “starred in a torture porn movie.”
Benyak’s lawsuit, filed Friday, is the second of two defamation lawsuits filed this week in Washington County Court against Republican Rep. Bud Cook, the campaign committee 4 We The People – Cook, the Republican Party of Pennsylvania and “unknown defendants” allegedly involved in creating campaign materials critical of Benyak, the Democratic nominee who lost to Cook in November.
The Charleroi attorney appeared in 2011 in a “small-budget horror movie” called “Breeding Farm,” according to his civil complaint. His lawyer, Clark Mitchell, wrote the film “depicted (Benyak) as a married lawyer who purchased individuals for breeding.”
In October, during the race between Benyak and Cook, a television ad that contained footage from the movie began airing in the Mon Valley. The footage was “altered to make (Benyak) appear next to a woman who appears in distress and is bound and gagged.” An accompanying voice-over accused Benyak of starring in a “torture porn” movie.
Political mailers bearing that phrase and a still from that footage with Benyak’s image – purportedly paid for by the state Republican Party – were sent to homes in the district.
The state committee declined to discuss Benyak’s allegations.
“We have not received any information regarding the alleged lawsuit; therefore, we will not be discussing this lawsuit,” Chairman Val DiGiorgio said in an email sent by a spokesman.
Cook didn’t immediately respond to a message left at his district office Friday afternoon.
The lawsuit alleges the television ad falsely portrayed Benyak as “the one tying up and gagging the woman when, in fact, the plaintiff does not have any tattoos and is not that person.”
Mitchell also represents the woman who appears in the ad – Rachel Olson of Vestaburg – in a civil case against the same defendants.
Benyak’s lawsuit includes a defamation claim, a claim the defendants invaded Benyak’s privacy by using his likeness without his consent and another privacy claim alleging they portrayed him in a false light.
“The movie is a horror movie with absolutely no sex acts being performed, and the plaintiff is a lawyer, not a porn star,” according to the lawsuit.
Benyak seeks more than $50,000 in damages and asks the court to require Cook, his committee and the Republican committee to remove pictures, videos and other media depicting him in “Breeding Farm” and as starring in “torture porn.”