Titi Pierce sues Ellen Degeneres

An estate agent called Titi Pierce is suing Ellen DeGeneres for making fun of her name.

The comedian showed one of her advertising hoardings on her talk show, and pronounced her name 'Titty'.

But in the legal papers, she insists 'grammar dictates' that it should be pronounced 'Tee Tee'.

And she claims being the butt of a joke made her suffer 'stress, emotional distress, embarrassment, humiliation, anger and other mental pain and suffering'.

DeGeneres showed the sign during a segment entitled 'What's Wrong With These Ads… and These Signs?' on February.

The segment started with a Marco Rubio campaign ad saying 'It's morning again in America' - over footage of Vancouver; followed by funny photos viewers had sent in, including one for the Nipple Convalescent Home.

After showing Pierce's sign outside a home for sale, DeGeneres told the audience: 'Titty Pierce, sounds like she might have spent some time in that nipple home, I don't know.'

The lawsuit states that the Degeneres Show didn't blur out her personal cell-phone number on the screen, leading to 'ridiculing and harassing phone calls and voicemail messages'. But footage subsequently posted online does have the number obscured:

Pierce wants to 'stand up and say this is wrong and this is not how we treat people,' her attorney told her local newspaper in Macon, Georgia.

Her first name is said to be a Nigerian name meaning 'flower' – and she claims that never in her life has anyone linked it to a woman's breast.

The estate agent is seeking unspecified monetary damages from producers Warner Bros. Entertainment and is asking for the episode in question to no longer be allowed on air.

Published: 8 Jun 2016