Actress Junie Hoang lost her lawsuit against IMDB for revealing her actual age online. Hoang first sued IMDB (and parent company Amazon) in October 2011 for $1 million for putting her actual age of 42 on the database without her consent.
When the actress joined in 2008, her actual age appeared. She claimed this had been done with the site doing record searches and using her credit card information without her permission. When she asked IMDB to remove the information, they would not comply. Hoang said having her actual age listed on the site would harm her chances getting roles in a youth-based industry.
After Hoang filed her lawsuit against IMDB in 2011 both SAG and AFTRA sided with her. They said that when actual ages are posted “they become known to casting personnel, the 10+ year age range that many [actors] can portray suddenly shrinks and so do their opportunities to work.” Despite this backing, Hoang lost her case after a two day trial.
It’s supremely depressing that this case even had to happen in the first place and that Hoang even had to lie about her age in order to work. Just another example of how the industry needs to shift and we need more diverse roles for women of all ages.
Actress Loses Age Lawsuit Against IMDb (Deadline)
