Lawsuit challenges authenticity of Marilyn Monroe exhibit
Updated: 2006-06-01 11:07
 A lawsuit claims that Marilyn Monroe had no connection to many of the
items in an exhibit that claims to showcase her possessions.
The exhibit
aboard the Queen Mary, which is moored in Long Beach, features items including
hair rollers, suitcases, a lipstick holder and a "red shiny dress" that the
iconic sex symbol supposedly owned. Thousands of people have paid $22.95
(euro18) each to see it since it opened in November.
The lawsuit filed
Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, however, claims that Monroe had nothing to
do with many of them and that some were made after she died from an overdose of
sleeping pills in August 1962.
A spokeswoman for the Queen Mary and the
exhibit declined to comment Tuesday to the Los Angeles Times, and the paper said
it was unable to reach the items' owner, Chicago collector Robert W. Otto. He
has previously insisted the items are authentic.
The lawsuit was filed on
behalf of two people who attended the exhibit _ Ernest Cunningham, author of
"The Ultimate Marilyn," and Emily Sadjady. It asks that the Queen Mary and
exhibit organizers be forced to refund admission fees and also seeks unspecified
punitive damages.
"The Queen Mary should have done a little more
homework," said the plaintiffs' attorney, George Braunstein.
The exhibit
opened on the ship after the Hollywood Museum canceled a scheduled show over
questions about the authenticity of some of the memorabilia.
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