Advertisement

Case against German Instagram star Cathy Hummels thrown out of court

AFP
AFP - [email protected]
Case against German Instagram star Cathy Hummels thrown out of court
File picture shows Cathy Hummels and her lawyer Christian Oliver Moser in the courtroom in February at the start of the case. Photo: DPA

Social media influencer Cathy Hummels, the wife of Bayern Munich and ex-Germany footballer Mats Hummels, had a civil action case against her thrown out of court in Munich on Monday.

Advertisement

The 31-year-old socialite and yoga fan, who has 485,000 followers on Instagram, had faced charges of surreptitious advertising brought by Germany's trade association VSW, but the judge dismissed the case.

The Berlin-based VSW had accused Hummels because she posted links to several brands of beauty products on her Instagram page "@Catherinyyy" without labelling the four posts as advertisements.

Hummels, who married the Bayern defender and 2014 World Cup winner in 2015, had insisted she received no payment from firms mentioned in her posts.

The court ruled that there was no proof that Hummels had received any compensation in exchange.

It also found that she is not required to label anything that she has not received payment for as advertising.

Hummels posted on Instagram to say she was thankful to the court for the decision but added in a caption: "We are fighting for all courts in Germany to decide that advertising only has to be labelled if it really is one.

"There is already a law on advertising, but it must be 'reinterpreted', the digital world must be included so that we are all on the safe side."

The Munich court's decision is not final, however.

The VSW has won a similar case against a well-known German fitness blogger Pamela Reif in Karlsruhe and there has been no test case ruling in Germany's top court.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also