A fairly amusing viral video, uploaded by a videographer at a San Francisco wedding reception in 2015, has caused so much embarrassment for the couple involved that they're suing the photography firm that uploaded it. As NBC Bay Area first reported, the couple filed the lawsuit anonymously as Jane and John Doe, and the bride shown in the video wouldn't even appear on camera for the TV station.
Drunk groom dancing in front of crying bride (Photos + Video) http://t.co/bvpadsk30L pic.twitter.com/pGO4Dd4UWV
— TheInfoNGmedia (@TheInfoNGmedia) June 17, 2015
The video, a clip of which you can watch on YouTube, shows the very drunk groom first straddling and grinding on his new bride, falling on the ground, and then ultimately, in the extended version that is harder to find online but which you can see images from on the Daily Mail going under his wife's dress and failing to get her garter off. According to the suit, the extended video also shows "a series of sexually suggestive and other inappropriate acts."
What would have just been a funny memory among friends and family, though, has turned out to be a huge embarrassment with global reach and millions of views, and Jane Doe tells NBC Bay Area, "It hurts," and "A friend of my husband’s in Ireland who wasn’t even at the wedding saw the video online.”
Chicago-based George Street Photo & Video, which advertises itself as being "Wedding photography experts," has a presence in 40 cities, and they issued a statement saying, "In our 12 year history of capturing, editing, and delivering thousands of wedding photos and videos, we have never experienced anything like this. We are very disappointed and upset by this situation, and we have spent considerable time removing our video from the internet."
But, to be clear, they still own the copyright to the video and the photographer was within his or her rights to upload it. Nonetheless, the couple involved is suing for damages, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.