Clinic Sues Influencer Over Failure to Pay


On Thursday a case was filed in the Southern District of New York by Millennial Plastic Surgery PLLC against Meghan James, an influential social media influencer. The case is regarding breach of contract and failure to pay for services.

Millennial Plastic Surgery PLLC entered into a contract with social media influencer Meghan James for advertising purposes. The contract required that the defendant promote two procedures she was going to receive from the plaintiff prior to the surgery. The surgery was then going to be livestreamed through social media for the followers to view and react to. Finally, the defendant was to make follow up posts for 1 year after the procedure, according to the complaint.

The contract, the plaintiffs said, included a non-disparagement clause as well as specific requirements as to the type and styling of the posts. In exchange, the defendant would receive two plastic surgery procedures for free, totaling $22,000. If the defendant was not able to meet the social media requirements, the contact had a clause that required payment for the procedures.

The pre-procedure requirements were met, but the defendant lost the privilege to host live-streams on social media platform Instagram. The plaintiffs inquired if it would still be possible to meet the required livestream segment of the contract and the defendant assured the plaintiffs that it would. However, when the first procedure was performed, it was discovered that it still was not possible to livestream through the defendant’s account. The plaintiff cancelled the second procedure and per the terms of the contract, sought payment for the first procedure. The defendant has declined to pay for the first procedure and per the plaintiff has broken the non-disparagement clause of the contract.

The plaintiff is suing for breach of contract regarding failure to perform and breach of the non-disparagement clause, as well defamation. They are represented by Garson Segal Steinmetz Fladgate LLP.