news headlines

May 30, 2002 - LFI has vidcaps from a recent Conan O'Brien 'If They Mated' clip that featured Enrique Iglesias mated with tennis babe Anna Kournikova. The pictures have since been removed. 

May 25, 2002 - The UK edition of FHM's Sexiest Women 2002 poll named tennis babe and Enrique Iglesias girlfriend Anna Kournikova as the #1 most sexy star. Pop stars on the list included S Club 7 singer Rachel Stevens at #2, Britney Spears at #3, Jennifer Lopez at #4, Kylie Minogue at #6, Holly Valance at #8, and Shakira at #9.

May 22, 2002 - Penthouse magazine apologized Monday and settled a lawsuit with Judith Soltesz-Benetton who sued after topless pictures of her were published and promoted as photos of tennis star Anna Kournikova.

May 20, 2002 - "I can look at a woman fully dressed and give you a very good idea of her breasts without the trappings of [clothes]," the 71-year-old Guccione said at the 'Pornnikova' trial on Wednesday. "This is another thing, I'm sorry to say, I'm an expert on."

May 20, 2002 - The New York Post's Neil Travis reports the Penthouse issue featuring the phony Anna Kournikova may be a valuable collectors item someday, as the controversial September 1984 issue of the magazine with then-Miss America Vanessa Williams is worth $3,500 a copy now.

May 19, 2002 - The New York Post has more on the history involved with a  lawsuit over a topless photo spread Penthouse wrongly claimed was Anna Kournikova. Even if the judge orders a recall, it doesn't appear it would have any effect.

May 19, 2002 - Anna Kournikova lost to Spain's Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-3, 6-2 during the fourth day of the women's Rome tennis Master Series at Rome's Foro Italico, Thursday, May 16, 2002.

May 16, 2002 - Judith Soltesz-Benetton urged a U.S. judge on Wednesday to recall the issue to keep it out of the hands of her children.

May 15, 2002 - Reuters reports that a St. Louis jewelry salesman who sold Penthouse Magazine a video of a topless sunbather misidentified as Anna Kournikova testified on Tuesday he mistook the woman for the tennis star because of the diameter of her nipples.

May 15, 2002 - Pagesix.com has more details on the Porn-ikova lawsuit as St. Louis jeweler Frank Ramaesiri explained why he believed why the woman on Miami Beach, Judith Soltesz-Benetton, was Anna. Talking about the woman in the photograph's nipples that he compared to a photo of Anna's, he said "It was pretty evident, the diameter of them; and they matched up [with] what we had on film."

May 14, 2002 - Anna Kournikova set up a second round clash with world number one Venus Williams at the Italian Open with a 6-3 6-3 win over Marta Marrero in her opening match in Rome. Anna said afterwards, "It's definitely never easy to play against Venus. She's obviously a very tough player. I have nothing to lose so I'm just going to go out there, try and play my best game and see how well I can do."

May 13, 2002 - SNL ran a skit on Anna's lawsuit against Penthouse, here's a quick recap: They had her testifying as to how it emtionally messed her up and Anna (played by Kirsten Dunst) said that she was not making it past the third round instead of the usual third round. She also said that she never shows her "boobings" in public just her legs, arms, a little ass cheek and part of the "boobings" but never the "boobings tips." They also kept interrupting with dancing sequences and brought up a witness who felt "violated" for using the magazine for his masturbation thinking it was Anna but wasn't her. Finally Penthouse offered her a settlement she couldn't refuse! A million dollars and a stolen Wimbledon Trophy.

May 12, 2002 - Phil Kloer of the Atlanta Journal Constitution has a commentary that says the Anna Kournikova hoax is typical attempt to exploit celebrity and nudity-obsessed male fans.

May 9, 2002 - Anna Kournikova is suing Penthouse's parent company over topless pictures the magazine published and misidentified as photos of the tennis star, her managers say.

May 8, 20002 - The Smoking Gun has the court documents filed that prompted Judge Denny Chin has barred Penthouse from distributing any more copies of its new issue or posting the supposed Anna Kournikova nudes, which Judith Soltesz-Benetton claims are seven year old photos of her. Check it out here.

May 8, 20002 - KTLA has a video clip about the judge who ruled against magazine Penthouse, which may have to pull its controversial issue with pictures it suggested were tennis star Anna Kournikova. Feedroom.com has since removed the video.

May 8, 20002 - Penthouse issued an apology to Anna Kournikova and Judith Soltesz-Benetton following Judith's lawsuit against the magazine. "In over 30 years of publishing this magazine, we have never made an error of anything approaching this magnitude," Penthouse said yesterday. "We can only say we're sorry to the two women."

May 7, 2002 - The Enquirer has a brief story on Anna's reaction when she learned Penthouse was planning to publish nude photos of her, photos that her marketing representative David Schwab said weren't even her.

May 7, 2002 - Bob Guccione is in danger of having Penthouse go bankrupt following the news of Judith Soltesz-Benetton's $10 million lawsuit against the magazine, and plans by Anna Kournikova to sue it also.

May 7, 2002 - Enrique Iglesias talked with Popworld magazine about his rumored relationship with Anna Kournikova, which he explained, "I wish!" Enrique added, "She's crazy, but in a cool way. I heard rumours that I would not kiss her because she had a cold sore, but that's not true." He also touched on not being very popular in high school, and his "mad fans" who take their love for him too far.

May 3, 2002 - 93.3 FLZ posted a couple of clear photos of Anna Kournikova that were posted quite a bit last year, showing Anna Kournikova topless. The pictures at 933flz.com have since been removed.

May 1, 2002 - Jay Leno joked during his Tonight Show monologue on Tuesday, "Tennis star Anna Kournikova is suing Penthouse magazine for publishing topless photos of a woman on a Miami Beach and claiming it's her. Kournikova says it is not her in the photos. Looks like she has a pretty good case. In fact, you realize she could win in court before she ever wins on a court."

May 1, 2002 - Conan O'Brien joked during his Late Night monologue on Tuesday, "Anna Kournikova's lawyers are suing Penthouse magazine because they claim that the magazine's nude photos of Kournikova are fake. Big story. Yeah, and folks, if Kournikova wins the suit, it will be the first time she's ever won anything." Maybe he and Jay should run their jokes by each other before they tape, eh?

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