March 3- 9, 2005

fine print

Here's What's Fun — You're Getting Served!

by Doron Taussig

Imagine Anthony DiMeo III's confusion when an acquaintance said to him that she wasn't aware of his many enemies at the Philadelphia Weekly.

DiMeo, a 29-year-old financial adviser and an heir to the fortune of DiMeo Farms, a South Jersey blueberry establishment, was equally unaware of these enemies. He soon learned that the Weekly, in the "Here's What's Crap" section of Jessica Pressler's column, "Pressler's Miscellany," had published a copy of an e-mail greeting card he sent to friends and family with an accompanying photo of DiMeo standing next to a Christmas tree. Beside it, Pressler had placed a parody of the card, which began, "In 2004, I learned that I am so amazing that I get off all day simply on the incredible feeling of being myself."

According to the draft of a lawsuit that DiMeo said he planned to file this week (he provided the paperwork to several media outlets, but his attorney says the Weekly has yet to be served with it), he "looked upon the publication in horror, fearful of its impact upon his business endeavors as well as a private life."

The documents claim that, since the publication, DiMeo has been "constantly reminded" of the publication, "which will persist in his memory in perpetuity." It says that Pressler and DiMeo have never met, that he didn't send her the card, and that DiMeo is a private person whose image is important to his business, though his Web site, www.anthonydimeo.com, states that "Acting has played a substantial role in Anthony's personal life and development as a public figure."

The draft characterizes the column as "entirely and conspicuously defamatory in nature." DiMeo is suing the Weekly for $50,000.

DiMeo, Jessica Pressler and Weekly editor Tim Whitaker all declined comment. It is not clear how Pressler gained possession of DiMeo's Christmas card.