A family is suing a US cable channel after an image of them was described in a movie as "ugly".
The TV movie Christmas Harmony, which premiered in November last year, sparked embarrassment for the Allah family when they received calls from friends and family telling them their picture had been used, TMZ reports.
In the scene, lead character Harmony attaches a photo of the family to a wall, which her co-star in the film tells her to remove. When she protests, he responds, "They're ugly".
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The family in the picture are suing the channel Lifetime which aired the film, claiming the image was used without their permission. They said the image was used for "cheap laughs", Courthouse News Service reports.
Setiam and Katherine Allah, "an interracial couple", sued Lifetime Entertainment Services for "punitive damages" in the Los Angeles Superior Court, Courthouse News says, over claims that without consent, "their family portrait was displayed as a prop".
It's understood the Allahs are suing the channel for all of the film's profits.
The film was one of many festive premieres on the channel last year, including A Very Nutty Christmas with Melissa Joan Hart and Every Day is Christmas with Toni Braxton.
It hasn't been reported how the Allah family portrait found its way onto the film set.
Newshub.
