Playboy's former fashion director claims he was the victim of discrimination at the men's magazine because of his sexual orientation and age.
In a $4 million Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit filed today, Joseph DeAcetis, 45, (pictured, right) says his Playboy magazine bosses often "made fun" of him because he was gay and his hair was gray.
The lawsuit says DeAcetis's boss, editorial director Christopher Napolitano, "referred to plaintiff and other homosexuals as 'girls' and laughed at [him] because of his enjoyment of baseball because it was not a girl sport."
He says his duties were slowly stripped away and handed over to his 27-year-old straight male assistant and a 38-year-old straight female fashion editor.
After DeAcetis went on a New York morning show to promote one of his sections this past August, Napolitano complained that "grey hair was visible" and he "looked old."
He also told DeAcetis his younger assistant should do any future TV appearances because "his was the right look" the magazine was hoping to project.
DeAcetis said he was fired two months later because of his age and sexual orientation. The suit seeks back pay as well as damages for DeAcetis's "mental anguish, emotional distress and loss of enjoyment of life."
A rep for Playboy Enterprises, Elizabeth Austin, said the company "takes these allegations very seriously" and has been conducting its "own investigation of this matter."
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