Editors Slapped With Suit After Fashion Week Cat Fight

It all started as a fight for the front row at a Zac Posen Fashion Week runway show, but now the spat between a public relations executive and a French magazine editor is headed to court.

Public relations exec Lynn Tesoro filed a summons with notice Tuesday in Manhattan Supreme Court against Marie-José Susskind-Jalou, the president of Jalou publishing house, and her daughters, Jalouse magazine editor Jennifer Eymere and L'Officiel magazine editor Vanessa Bellugeon, according to Women's Wear Daily. Tesoro was allegedly slapped in the face during an altercation with the three women at the Zac Posen fashion show Sept. 9. The PR exec is seeking at least $1 million in damages for "assault, battery, emotional distress, slander and/or libel."

The reported slap happened just 30 minutes prior to the start of Posen's show on Sunday. Fire marshals removed 60 seats from the show's front row, causing Tesoro and her PR team to scramble to find seats for guests, including Susskind-Jalou, Eyemere and Bellugeon, WWD reported. Tesoro is the co-founder of HL Group, the PR team that represents Posen.

When Tesoro was unable to find the women seats, they reportedly started screaming at Tesoro and one of them slapped her. Tesoro confirmed the slap to WWD but didn't go into further details.

Eyemere admitted Monday to slapping Tesoro. She said she was sorry and knew it was wrong.

"I said, 'Don't speak to my mom like this. You have to stop to speaking like that.' I said, 'Be careful, I am going to slap you,' and she kept doing it, and it just happened," she told WWD.

"It was a small slap. It was not strong. I didn't hurt her, it was just to humiliate her," Eyemere added. "She humiliated my mom, and I humiliated her in front of her crew. Voilà. I just said at the end, 'Now you know you don't f*** with French people.'"

Tesoro's lawyer did not respond to requests for comment. Eyemere and Susskind-Jalou could not be reached for comment.