Brad Pitt has been hit with a lawsuit by a company selling anti-aging cream for men’s privates.
The Fight Club star, who is already embroiled in a legal battle with his ex-wife Angelina Jolie, owns a unisex skincare brand that has a similar name to the men’s beauty brand that filed the suit.
Beau D, a Malibu-based company that sells a so-called “D. Cream,” is seeking $75,000 in damages and has asked Pitt to rename his skincare line, Beau Domaine.
Brad Pitt’s skincare brand is facing an eyebrow-raising lawsuit from a company that sells a cream for men’s privates
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The risqué beauty company launched in 2020, two years before Pitt started Le Domaine, which was renamed to Beau Domaine last year.
The actor’s skincare line was co-founded with the Perrin family, a famed winemaking dynasty in France who are his long-standing collaborators on Miraval wines.
Its products contain GSM10, a compound extracted from Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre grapes.
Beau D reportedly made three failed attempts at a private settlement before filing its lawsuit.
Its founder, Brandon Palas, claims trademark infringement, false designation of origin (misleading consumers about whether two products are affiliated), and common-law unfair competition under California’s Business and Professions Code, AirMail reported.
Among its products is a $56 cream that promises to “put power in your package.”
According to the website, the product “harnesses the virile energy” of various Chinese herbs.
The company claims it tried three times to settle privately before suing the Hollywood star for $75,000
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Palas, who worked for Men’s Vogue, told AirMail that the cream “will help to bring plumpness to that skin, inspire collagen production, and slow down the process of aging.”
“When it comes to self-care, men get a little bit schoolgirl giggly about it—sheepish and shy. So humor helps to break the ice,” Palas said.
“It’s [men’s] favorite region of the body,” Palas added when describing his product, but he said it’s something that men “sort of dance around when it comes to skin care. We’ll do face and body and leave that part to itself.”
Beau Domaine has not yet filed a formal legal response in court.
Palas said the $75,000 lawsuit “isn’t about publicity or punishment.”
“It’s about protecting the integrity of what we’ve spent years building and ensuring independent brands have the right to grow without being overshadowed or diluted.”
Given that the name “Beau” is considered too generic, it’s unlikely that Beau D will win the lawsuit
Lawyer María Teresa Szendrey told AirMail that she believes Beau D does not have a strong enough case against Beau Domaine.
As “Beau” is the male-gendered French word for “handsome,” the brand names may be considered too generic to be associated.
“When you have a generic trademark or a descriptive trademark, you have to prove that when somebody hears the mark, they immediately associate it with your product,” Szendrey explained.
Moreover, Pitt’s skincare brand was successfully registered with the US Patent and Trademark Office, meaning it was approved by an examiner who did not consider it to infringe on any trademarks.
Ahead of the brand’s launch in 2022, the F1 actor stated that he wasn’t interested in people associating him with the company.
“I’m not the face of this line,” Pitt told Vogue. “I don’t want to be selling something. It’s not about a celebrity brand. It’s about the land, the science and the people behind it.”
Pitt is embroiled in a separate legal battle over Château Miraval, his sprawling French estate which includes the vineyard from where Beau Domaine’s ingredients are sourced.
The $164 million property was co-owned by Pitt and Jolie.
In 2022, the actress sold her stake to a third party, a move Pitt challenged in court, alleging they had agreed that no one could sell their share without the other’s approval.
Pitt is still locked in a bitter legal battle with Angelina Jolie over their $164 million French estate and winery
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Jolie denied the agreement existed and filed a countersuit, claiming her ex-husband has been “waging a vindictive war against” her. The legal dispute is ongoing.
The most recent update favored Jolie. Earlier this month, a judge denied a motion from Pitt’s lawyers that would have required the mother of his six children to turn over 22 communications related to the winery battle.
Social media users had a lot to say about Beau D’s lawsuit against Brad Pitt
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