Celebrity News

Heigl slaps Duane Reade with $6M suit for tweeting image

She’s earned a notorious reputation for being one of Hollywood’s most difficult actresses to work with — and now Katherine Heigl won’t play nice with Duane Reade either.

The gorgeous but grumpy “Grey’s Anatomy” star slapped the pharmacy giant with a $6 million-plus lawsuit Wednesday alleging she was photographed without consent by paparazzi outside one of its Manhattan stores — and that Duane Reade then brazenly misused the image for its own advertising.

The 35-year-old Heigl — who’s repeatedly been ripped by industry sources for routinely inflating production costs by complaining about scripts, her wardrobe and other on-set issues — filed the suit in Manhattan federal court, alleging the photo was taken “without consent.”

She says that Duane Reade then wrongfully tried to profit off it by distributing the snapshot with the chain’s promotional slogans on its official Facebook and Twitter accounts without her “knowledge or approval.”

https://twitter.com/DuaneReade/statuses/446025035312947200

Sporting shades and with her blond hair tightly pulled back, a frowning Heigl is seen in the photo alone holding two Duane Reade bags while leaving an unidentified Duane Reade store.

The image first popped up March 18 on a tweet on Duane Reade’s official page, saying “Love a quick #DuaneReade run? Even @KatieHeigl can’t resist shopping at #NYC’s favorite drugstore.”

Duane Reade has since ignored Heigl’s pleas to stop the “false advertising” on its social network accounts, which reach “millions of customers,” the suit claims.

Heigl’s suit reads more like a resume in some parts.

She boasts about how she’s an award-winning, “highly successful television and motion picture actress, producer and celebrity” and then offers a long list of her film and TV credits, which also include “The Ugly Truth” and “Knocked Up.”

“As a consequence of her work in the entertainment and philanthropic worlds, plaintiff is a highly recognized celebrity,” the suit says. “… Accordingly, when plaintiff chooses to endorse a product or service, she is highly selective and well compensated.”

She says her “likeness was misappropriated” by Duane Reade while recently in New York shooting a one-hour pilot for the upcoming NBC drama “State of Affairs.”

Heigl claims she’s not looking to profit off the suit to subsidize a deflating career.

The suit is seeking at least $6 million in compensatory and punitive damages, and the animal-loving actress says in the suit that any monetary reward she receives would be directly donated to the Jason Debus Heigl Foundation.

The foundation is an animal-welfare charity that she and her mother set up in honor of her late brother, who was tragically killed in a 1986 car accident.

“We expect Duane Reade to pay for its willful misuse of Katherine Heigl’s name and likeness,” said Heigl’s lawyer, Peter Haviland.

Reps for Duane Reade did not return messages.