Playboy exec sues over gay discrimination

Playboy’s former fashion director is suing the magazine for alleged sexual orientation and age discrimination.

Joseph DeAcetis, 45, filed a lawsuit in the Manhattan supreme court on Friday, claiming he was harassed by Playboy’s editorial director, Christopher Napolitano, and that he was fired because of his age.

In the $4 million lawsuit, DeAcetis claimed Napolitano made fun of him for being gay and having grey hair, along with calling him and other gay men in the office “girls”.

When DeAcetis went on CW11′s morning show to promote the magazine last August, Napolitano complained that “gray hair was visible” and he “looked old.”

DeAcetis, who was fired two months later, alleges his younger, straight male assistant was told to do future TV appearances.

Elizabeth Austin, a Playboy Enterprises spokeswoman, said the company took the allegations “very seriously” and was conducting its own investigation.