Paris's fake locks land her in court

We all have bad-hair days but when they happen to Paris Hilton they are really off the map.

The 29-year-old socialite is being sued for $35-million (R257-million) for allegedly wearing someone else's hair.

A company that makes hair extensions claims that Hilton breached her contract with it by sporting the fake locks of a competitor in 2008 instead of wearing and promoting its products.

According to the lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Hairtech International Incorporated is asking for $35-million in damages - 10 times what she is believed to have been paid in terms of the contract.

The company alleges that Hilton was "seen in magazines and on television not wearing [its] hair extensions and was in fact wearing competitors' hair extension products".

The fraud and breach-of-contract suit cites the heiress's partying ways as being contrary to Hairtech's marketing campaign strategy.

The filing also claims that Hilton missed a launch party for the company's hair extension line because she was in jail in 2007.

Hilton served 23 days in prison after twice being caught driving on a suspended licence while on probation for reckless driving.

The filing states that the company lost $6.6-million (R48-million) on the launch party alone. A court will have to decide whether Hilton owes any money if the case goes to trial.

Phone and e-mail messages to Hilton's publicist, Dawn Miller, were not immediately returned.

The case is not the first time that Hilton's role as a marketing face has got her sued.

The producers of the film Pledge This! sued Hilton in 2008 in federal court in the US state of Miami, claiming that she did not properly promote the film.

A judge ruled last year that she did not owe the $8.3-million (R61-million) it cost to make the film, which played in fewer than two dozen cinemas.

The court is still deciding how much, if any, of Hilton's $1-million fee for Pledge This! she will have to return to the film-makers.