Director sues over porn confusion

COLUMBIA, S.C., March 24 (UPI) -- A former South Carolina lawmaker turned filmmaker is accusing two cable channels of confusing his comedy movie with a similarly-named porn film.

James "Bubba" Cromer, who served in the state House of Representatives from 1990-1998 and currently works as the legislative body's reading clerk, said Showtime's The Movie Channel and HBO's Cinemax movie networks promoted a soft-core pornography film "The Hills Have Thighs" as his 2008 comedy film of the same name, The State, Columbia, S.C., reported Wednesday.

Cromer said he was excited to read listings that named him as the director and many of his family and friends, including state lawmakers, tuned in to the expected premier on The Movie Channel and were shocked to see the pornographic flick instead.

"It had nudity, sex acts, ridiculous language, just very pornographic content in my view," Cromer said. "I physically got sick. I've worked 22 years for a name. My name is all I've got and I saw it disintegrating in front of me."

The cable networks had corrected their listings to show the correct director and synopsis for the pornographic film by Tuesday. However, Cromer said the damage has already been done to his reputation.

Cromer filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles alleging defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence.