The celebrity gossip site TMZ.com said it is being sued for $20 million by Verne "Mini-Me" Troyer from the "Austin Powers" movies, after the site allegedly aired portions of a sex tape featuring Troyer and a former live-in girlfriend.
Troyer filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, claiming TMZ.com and TMZ TV show violated his privacy rights and infringed on his copyright and trademark by running portions of the tape, according to the site.
TMZ said that Troyer is also claiming that the site violated his right of privacy and misappropriated his name and likeness, and is seeking an injunction to stop further dissemination of the tape.
Troyer also named Kevin Blatt as a defendant in the suit, TMZ said. The site said Thursday that Blatt is trying to sell the tape, which was purportedly obtained from a third party.
According to TMZ, Blatt is the same dealer who brokered Paris Hilton's sex video, and that he was entertaining an offer of $100,000 from a company called Sugar DVD to distribute the Troyer video.
The 2-foot-8-inch Troyer played Dr. Evil's (Mike Myers) diminutive clone in "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" and "Austin Powers in Goldmember." The 39-year-old actor also stars as Toronto Maple Leafs coach Punch Cherkov in Myers' new comedy "The Love Guru."