Zeta-Jones Sues Reno Topless Club

A spokesman for a Nevada topless club being sued by Catherine Zeta-Jones said Monday the actress should be flattered the club used her image for advertising and promotion.

Jones is suing The Spice House, which bills itself as "Reno's friendliest topless cabaret," and its owner, Wesglow Resources, for displaying her picture on "numerous pages" of its Web site without her permission, according a lawsuit filed last week in Los Angeles.

Her image was sometimes shown alongside partially nude women, and created the false impression that the actress "endorsed or approved of the sexually explicit content" and could "dilute the value of her celebrity endorsement," according to the lawsuit.

A designer for the club's Web site downloaded pictures of Zeta-Jones from a German Web site that offered "royalty-free graphics," said Kent Wallace, the club's marketing director.

"It was an image of a beautiful woman," Wallace said. "We had no idea it was Catherine Zeta-Jones; one wouldn't think (her image) would appear in a free graphics Web site."

"She should have been flattered, as far as I'm concerned," Wallace said.

Wallace said the club immediately took down Zeta-Jones' images when it was contacted by her attorney, and called the lawsuit "frivolous." He said the club hasn't retained a lawyer yet, but planned to ask a judge to dismiss the suit.

The star of "Chicago" and "Intolerable Cruelty" seeks unspecified damages and an order barring further use of her likeness.