An actress and athlete is firing back at Gawker for claiming she went on a $20,000 shopping spree in Las Vegas with someone else's credit card.
In a story published last year, Gawker's sports section Deadspin claimed Hannah Cornett racked up the mega-bill at Vegas' Cosmopolitan. Deadspin claimed a man who traveled to Las Vegas with Cornett contacted it to complain about charges Cornett amassed on his credit card.
In its story Deadspin took quite a few jabs at Cornett's career — and her personally — and even included a copy of the bill, which features multiple charges for the Sahra Spa, totaling thousands of dollars worth of treatments.
But Cornett tells a much different story.
In a recently filed lawsuit, she claims she went to Vegas with her former roommate Carrie Cutler and Cutler's friend James Alesi, Courthouse News Service reported Friday.
Cornett says she initially left her credit card on file with the front desk but Alesi switched out the cards and left his on file without telling her.
Alesi allegedly pursued both women and while he was successful with Cutler, he was rebuffed by Cornett.
When Cutler confessed the indiscretion to her boyfriend, he came out to Las Vegas where the two "amassed charges on Alesi's credit card," according to Cornett's complaint.
Cornett admitted she ordered a massage to her room but did so thinking it was still her credit card on file with the hotel.
And while Alesi told Deadspin Cornett signed for all the charges, she said Cutler and her boyfriend could have easily forged her signature, according to CNS.
"Gawker threw caution to the wind in its reckless pursuit for more hits on its website despite the fact that Alesi completely lacked credibility and was plainly biased," Cornett said, according to CNS. "Rather than contacting Ms. Cornett about the story, Gawker published reprehensible propaganda in the absence of any reputable evidence whatsoever to support, verify, or corroborate it."
Cornett is seeking actual and punitive damages and is representing herself.
Gawker is the only party named in the lawsuit. Deadspin, Daulerio, and Cutler are not named, according to CNS.
Gawker's editor-in-chief A.J. Daulerio, who also wrote the story, said he couldn't comment on the story right now when Business Insider reached out to him.
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