In what may be one of the most pathetic attempts to grasp at straws in order to remain relevant and nick some cash, Lindsay Lohan's contrived lawsuit against Rockstar for allegedly using her likeness in GTA 5 without her permission is back in court after being dismissed last year.
The lawsuit that has been going on and off for the past few years is possibly the washed out celebrity's last-ditch effort to keep her name in the news while also cashing in on damages. This seemed apparent enough to the judges as well, as the case has been tossed out of court time and again, but now an appeal has been granted which will result in New York's highest court hearing the case — and hopefully laughing it right up.
The claim itself? Lohan is suing because she claims Rockstar based a character in GTA 5, Lacey Jonas, on her, in spite of the developer having made public the actual model on which the character is based on, one Shelby Welinder. Welinder has posted a proof of payment to back up this claim, and yet Lohan presses on. Apparently, the game having similar clothes to what she wears is grounds for a lawsuit, if the legal papers submitted by her team are to be believed.
The game features a mission where the plaintiff's look-alike asks another character to take her home and escape the paparazzi [...] likeness, clothing, outfits, clothing line products, ensemble in the form of hats, hair style, sunglasses, jean shorts worn by [Lohan] before the release of the GTA V video game.
Thing is, this time around another person who's identity has allegedly been misappropriated stepped up as well. Karen Gravano, whose father is an actual real-life mobster (which gives her marginally more connection to GTA) has claimed that the game character Andrea Bottino is based on her in appearance and backstory alike.
Previously, the courts tossed the case because, as a "work of fiction and satire", even if the character was based on Lohan, since her name wasn't directly referenced and Rockstar didn't somehow sneakily paint colorful dots on her face, record it with all the equipment found in a motion capture studio and directly use that in-game without her consent, the lawsuit had no legal grounds on which to stand.
Coupling this with the mere fact that the character wasn't based on Lohan seemed to hammer the last nail into the coffin of this pointless case. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, it has now been re-opened, however it will likely be a year or more until the case actually goes to court, where it inevitably will be thrown out again.
While Lohan and Gravano's lawyers have to face off against not only Take-Two's crack team of legal experts, the common sense of the judge will be the toughest hurdle to clear. We anticipate reporting in the future that the cases have been dismissed once more, but unfortunately that means writing these people's names in a headline again. Alas.
The worst thing about this is that the desperate attempts to remain relevant of undeservedly rich people are clogging up the already woefully inefficient legal system. God forbid genuinely important cases get before the judges in time. Oh no, some former celebrity claiming to have suffered Grand Theft Identity is the priority.
Remember folks — the next time you see a random PED in GTA 5 wearing clothes marginally similar to your own, throw Rockstar a lawsuit!
