Fox Anchor Sues Hasbro for Naming Rodent After Her

Harris Faulkner says toy hamster was 'demeaning and insulting'
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 2, 2015 10:48 AM CDT
Fox Anchor Sues Hasbro for Naming Rodent After Her
Harris Faulkner, host of "Fox Report Weekend," on the Fox News Channel, poses for photos on set in New York, April 28, 2015.   (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

If Harris Faulkner were a 9-year-old girl, she might have been tickled to have a Hasbro toy named after her. But the 49-year-old Fox Report Weekend anchor is suing the toy company for bestowing her moniker on its Harris Faulkner hamster, part of its "Pet Pawsabilities" line for the Littlest Pet Shop brand, NBC News reports. Faulkner's bid for $5 million, filed this week in US District Court in New Jersey, says the hamster with the butterfly hat "willfully and wrongfully appropriated Faulkner's unique and valuable name and distinctive persona for its own financial gain," the news station notes. It adds that trademark symbols on the packaging make it appear Hasbro appropriated Faulkner's name and that the company never asked Faulkner to use her name, identity, or likeness.

And there is a likeness, the suit says, claiming the hamster bears "a physical resemblance to Faulkner's traditional professional appearance, in particular tone of its complexion, the shape of its eyes, and the design of its eye makeup," per the New York Daily News. Hasbro no longer sells the toy, but the complaint alleges Hasbro kept it on its site for months after Faulkner put the company "on notice" earlier this year and claims it can still be purchased through Amazon and other online venues, Courthouse News Service reports. Another thing that disturbs Faulkner: the "Choking Hazard" warning, leaving her "extremely distressed that her name has been wrongly associated with a plastic toy that is a known choking hazard that risks harming small children," Entertainment Weekly reports. (The Beastie Boys sued a toy company for using one of their songs.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X