$20 Mil Lawsuit Against Charlize Theron to Proceed

By Stephen M. Silverman

Thursday October 09, 2008 08:45 AM EDT

Charlize Theron

Sarah Kerver/WireImage

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Despite her legal team's request to have the case dismissed, Charlize Theron is heading to Federal Court for the Southern District of New York later this month for a breach-of-contract lawsuit against her by Swiss watchmaker Raymond Weil.

The 2004 Monster Oscar winner, 33, was paid "substantial funds" – said to be $20 million – to star as the "new face" of Weil in the company's ad campaign, and she was to wear its timepieces exclusively from October 2005 to December 2006, according to the original court papers.

Weil's suit against its former brand ambassador, however, claims that simultaneously to her contract with them, Theron was also the face of a Dior perfume, and "was actually photographed wearing a watch from the Christian Dior line" at a press event in Austin, Texas, on March 14, 2006.

A photo of Theron wearing the offending watch was included as an exhibit in Weil's filing.

Weil is seeking the return of those "substantial funds," reports New York's Daily News.

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