Actress Sofia Vergara has been sued by Griselda Blanco’s family over her new show where she plays the infamous Colombian queen-pin.
Griselda Blanco’s kids, who are acting as representatives of her estate, are suing Sofia and Netflix over what they claim is the unauthorized use of their family’s image and likeness in this upcoming series.
The show features Sofia playing the late Griselda in her heyday as one of the most prominent drug lords in the world, but now, her children are trying to prevent it from coming out next week, running to court and asking the judge for an injunction to block its release.
Griselda’s son, Michael, claims he’d been doing interviews for years now with some guys who were trying to get his life story and that of his mother, in the hopes of developing it into a production of some sort. He alleges the interviews he did date back to ’09 all the way through 2022.
Michael said those consulting him not only wanted to develop his narrative into a show, but into a book as well, and he said they told him they’d start shopping it around Hollywood in 2016. He alleges they pitched it to a producer ahead of a meeting with Netflix about it. Michael claims he was then told Netflix was interested but that they didn’t want to use any of his details or consultations from the interviews he’d done.
Michael said he got to know about the new ‘Griselda’ show recently, and it leans on his anecdotes and material, but he never saw a dime.
They are accusing Netflix of ripping off their family story and weaving it into the plot of their show. They also claimed that the use of their own images and likenesses in the show without their permission violates their rights.
The lawsuit doesn’t specifically say that Netflix can’t depict their mother, a public figure, but it’s clear the kids believe their likenesses and interview materials were used to make it, presumably meaning they’re depicted in the actual show in some capacity.
The show is supposed to be released on January 25, but the Blanco children want to pump the brakes.
