Blood On The Catwalk: Lawsuit Launched After Fight At Zac Posen Fashion Show

A New York publicist has launched a lawsuit against a French magazine editor and her mother after tempers flew at New York fashion week on Sunday.

Lynn Tesoro filed the $ 1 million lawsuit against Jalouse Magazine editor Jennifer Eymere in Manhattan Supreme Court on Tuesday, less than 72 hours after the alleged incident occurred at Zac Posen’s show at Avery Fisher Hall.

Tension arose about 30 minutes before the show was about to start. FDNY fire-marshalls removed around 60 seats including many from the coveted front row. The result was Eymere’s mother — Marie-Jose Susskind Jalou, the President of Les Editions Jalou pubishing house, and a co-defendant in the lawsuit — didn’t have a seat.

As reported byWomen’s Wear Daily, a furious Eymere argued with Tesoro — whose company HL Group was promoting Posen’s show — before the argument escalated into Eymere allegedly slapping Tesoro. Eymere’s sister, Vanessa Bellugeon, also allegedly got involved and was seen “screaming” at Tesoro.

At least six HL Group employees were within earshot of the altercation. One of them, describing the alleged slap, told WWD:

“It was a ‘Whoa’ kind of moment. On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being a knockout punch and one being a pat on the cheek, it was a five. The sound could be heard.”

For her part, Eymere told Women’s Wear Daily in an interview on Monday that she was sorry about the incident but qualified saying:

“I said ‘Don’t speak to my mom like this… Be careful. I am going to slap you.’ And she kept doing it and it just happened.”

“It was a small slap. It was not strong. I didn’t hurt her. It was just to humiliate her. She humiliated my mom and I humiliated her in front of her crew. Voila. I just said at the end, ‘Now you know you don’t f–k with French people.'”

Tesoro — a veteran publicist whose resume includes Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, and Giorgio Armani — is seeking damages for “assault, battery, emotional distress, slander and/or libel.” In addition, the complaint mentions the defendants’ alleged subsequent defamatory statements about Tesoro and her business.

As yet, neither Tesoro or her attorney Peter D’Agostino have offered any comment on the matter.