UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT

August Term, 2022

Argued: December 2, 2022 Decided: May 19, 2023

Docket No. 21-2149-cv

ALANA SOUZA, AKA ALANA CAMPOS, BROOKE BANX, BROOKE TAYLOR-JOHNSON, JACLYN SWEDBERG, JAIME EDMONDSON-LONGORIA, JESSICA HINTON, TIFFANY TOTH-GRAY, URSULA SANCHEZ, AKA URSULA MAYES,

Plaintiffs-Appellants,

— v. —

EXOTIC ISLAND ENTERPRISES, INC., DBA MANSION GENTLEMEN’S CLUB & STEAKHOUSE, KEITH SLIFSTEIN,

Defendants-Appellees,

EXCLUSIVE EVENTS & PROMOTIONS INC., DBA THINK SOCIAL FIRST,

Third-Party-Defendant.*

* The Clerk of Court is directed to amend the caption as displayed above. B e f o r e:

LYNCH, NARDINI, and MENASHI, Circuit Judges.

Plaintiffs-Appellants, a group of current and former professional models, appeal from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Karas, J.) granting summary judgment against them on a variety of claims arising from the use of their images in social media posts promoting a “gentlemen’s club” operated by Defendants-Appellees. On appeal, Plaintiffs argue, among other things, that the district court misapplied this Court’s framework for evaluating the likelihood of consumer confusion in the context of a Lanham Act false endorsement claim, misconstrued Supreme Court guidance constraining the Lanham Act’s reach in the false advertising context, and applied the wrong statute of limitations to Plaintiffs’ state law right of publicity claims. We disagree. We conclude that the district court properly granted summary judgment on Plaintiffs’ federal claims and the majority of their state law claims, and permissibly declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over their remaining claims. We therefore AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.

JOHN V. GOLASZEWSKI, Casas Law Firm, P.C., New York, NY, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.

MICHAEL KOLB, O’Connor & Partners, PLLC, Kingston, NY, for Defendants-Appellees.

2 GERARD E. LYNCH, Circuit Judge:

This appeal concerns several claims brought by Plaintiffs-Appellants Alana Souza (a/k/a Alana Campos), Brooke Banx, Brooke Taylor-Johnson, Jaclyn Swedberg, Jaime Edmondson-Longoria, Jessica (a/k/a Jessa) Hinton, Ursula Sanchez (a/k/a Ursula Mayes), and Tiffany Toth-Gray (together, “Plaintiffs”) – all current or former professional models – against Defendants-Appellees Exotic Island (“Exotic”) and Keith Slifstein (together, “Defendants”). Those claims arise from the basic undisputed allegation that Defendants, through a third-party vendor, used images of Plaintiffs without their permission in social media posts promoting a “gentlemen’s club” operated by Defendants.

After the parties cross-moved for summary judgment, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Kenneth M. Karas, J.) granted summary judgment in Defendants’ favor. Specifically, it concluded that (1) Plaintiffs’ false endorsement claims, as supported by the evidentiary record on summary judgment, were foreclosed by our decision in Electra v. 59 Murray Enters., Inc., 987 F.3d 233 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 142 S. Ct. 563 (2021); (2) their false advertising claims were founded upon injury that either fell outside the zone of interests protected by the Lanham Act, or that was unsubstantiated by the record;

3 and (3) the bulk of their state-la