Tammy Tousignant is no Mildred Patricia Baena.
The former, Arnold Schwarzenegger's longtime personal flight attendant, wants to make this abundantly clear after Gawker and other tabloid publications falsely fingered her as the former California governor's mistress this spring.
Said mistress, we know now, was Baena (below).
Tousignant alleges that her name and reputation were severely damaged by reports claiming she was Arnold's lover and her son Tanner was his love child.
She's demanding $40 million for libel, invasion of privacy and misappropriation of images by Gawker, the National Enquirer and the U.K.'s Daily Mail.
According to her attorney, Harry Frank Scolinos, Gawker accused Tousignant of being the home-wrecker who broke up Arnold and Maria Shriver.
"Freedom of the press is a valuable right, but it is not a license for gossipy tabloids to tar and feather innocent citizens," said Scolinos in the suit.......
"Given the nearly instantaneous and worldwide availability of online and print articles, one would expect more rigorous standards to be imposed."
The celebrity gossip report in question?
Scolinos singled out Gawker's May "exclusive" report, which was teased by a headline proclaiming, "Is This Arnold Schwarzenegger's Love Child?"
The story pictured Tousignant, a flight attendant on Arnold's private jet from 1987 to 1999, along with a yearbook photo of her son, Tanner.
It suggested he "bears a physical resemblance to Arnold."
Tanner was born in 1992 to Tammy and her husband, Tom. Tanner's younger brother is named Conner, which prompted speculation he was named after John Connor, a key character in The Terminator film franchise.
The claims turned out to be false after the Los Angeles Times broke the news that Schwarzenegger fathered a child with Mildred Patricia Baena.
A housekeeper who worked for the power couple for years, Baena is believed to have confessed the secret when confronted by Shriver this year.
Gawker put out a retraction, but the damage was done, noted Scolinos: "News crews and paparazzi converged on the Tousignants' neighborhood."
"They were inundated with phone calls and messages. They were forced to flee their house and stay at another location. Tanner was followed."
"Their online accounts were hacked into. They were and continue to be the subject of intrusive scorn and scrutiny in their own community."
"Their reputations have been permanently damaged."
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