The "Grand Theft Auto" franchise is no stranger to controversy — and, sometimes, the mere existence of a particular NPC has been enough to cause a scandal. Here are just a few "Grand Theft Auto" characters who resulted in real-life legal cases when art seemed to imitate life a little too closely for comfort.
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00:00The Grand Theft Auto franchise is no stranger to controversy, and sometimes the mere existence
00:06of a particular NPC has been enough to cause a scandal.
00:10Here are just a few Grand Theft Auto characters who resulted in real-life legal cases when
00:15art seemed to imitate life a little too closely for comfort.
00:19The feud between Rockstar Games and Lindsay Lohan has become fairly legendary at this
00:23point, and it all sprang from an infamous character named Lacey Jonas, voiced by Bridget
00:28Burke.
00:29The deceptively bubbly Lacey Jonas is a frequent target of the paparazzi, her once-promising
00:34career having been derailed by a series of scandals and an eating disorder.
00:38At one point in the game, Lacey mentions being a singer and actress with a filmography full
00:43of rom-coms.
00:44She also gets noticeably upset if the player character doesn't immediately recognize her.
00:49Unfortunately for Rockstar Games, the star of Mean Girls and I Know Who Killed Me recognized
00:53herself in Lacey Jonas.
00:55Lohan filed multiple complaints against the developers of GTA 5, arguing that Jonas not
01:00only resembled her physically, but had a similar voice and mannerisms.
01:04One of Lohan's points of comparison was the fact that Jonas was frequently depicted flashing
01:08a peace sign in promo material, which Lohan felt was a pose closely associated with her
01:13own brand.
01:14Judges working for New York's Court of Appeals disagreed, finding Jonas to be a generic parody
01:19of Hollywood starlets and not close enough to Lohan to justify litigation.
01:23Lohan's claims that her privacy had been invaded by Rockstar Games were subsequently
01:27thrown out.
01:29Florida-based tattoo model Lauren Sullivan gained notoriety on the internet back in 2017,
01:34when he was arrested and a video of his court hearing was uploaded to the internet.
01:38His numerous facial tattoos and dyed hair earned Sullivan the nicknames Florida Joker
01:43and Miami Joker, and he's continued to cultivate an online following in the ensuing years.
01:49Because of this, the presence of a visually similar character in the first GTA 6 trailer
01:53raised eyebrows on the internet, including Sullivan's own, which, yes, are also tattooed.
01:58With Vice City being a parody of real-world Miami, the GTA 6 trailer is unsurprisingly
02:03full of references to real-life Florida man incidents, but Sullivan has expressed unique
02:07displeasure at the prospect of being parodied in Rockstar's next game.
02:12Since the trailer premiered in December 2023, Sullivan has uploaded multiple videos calling
02:16Rockstar out and demanding financial restitution.
02:20His asking price jumped from $2 million to $5 million in just under a month, but Rockstar
02:25has not responded to the Florida Joker's demands, and something tells us that he's not exactly
02:29the follow-through type.
02:30You don't have a lawyer.
02:31I don't even feel like signing the paperwork, I'm really not in the mood for that.
02:35Though many fans online have embraced Florida Joker's videos and encouraged him to secure
02:39that bag, both GTA 5 actor Ned Luke and Red Dead Redemption 2 star Roger Clark have made
02:45light of Sullivan's complaints.
02:47In a snarky video response, Clark quipped,
02:49"...they know exactly what they can and cannot get away with.
02:53If I were you, I would use the notoriety that they just threw your way to my advantage."
02:58He added, quote,
02:59"...you ain't getting a job in Home Depot with that face."
03:01Uhhh, it's Nico Bellic, I'm here for an interview.
03:05In Grand Theft Auto 4, protagonist Nico Bellic is tasked with hunting down Tom Goldberg,
03:10a lawyer who is using his connections to commit terrible crimes in secret.
03:14Goldberg comes into possession of some photos that could be used against corrupt police
03:18commissioner Francis McCreary, which leads to Nico pretending to look for a job at Goldberg's
03:22firm.
03:23This ruse gets Nico close enough to steal the blackmail material and assassinate Goldberg
03:27before he can build a case.
03:29It's a pretty standard GTA mission, but it ended up drawing the ire of former attorney
03:33and anti-GTA activist Jack Thompson.
03:36Thompson may sound familiar to gamers for his crusade against violence in video games,
03:41with Grand Theft Auto as a frequent focus.
03:43Before he was disbarred, Thompson represented multiple clients seeking damages from Rockstar
03:48Games and Take-Two Interactive, with a common thread being that they held violent video
03:52games responsible for influencing young minds to commit horrible crimes.
03:57Thompson also attempted to halt the release of multiple Rockstar titles, including GTA
04:014.
04:02He was none too pleased to discover that, shortly before being killed in GTA 4, Tom
04:06Goldberg says a phrase associated with Thompson himself.
04:09"'Guns don't kill people.
04:11Video games do."
04:13Thompson briefly threatened to pursue further legal action against the developer unless
04:17Rockstar removed the elements of the game that he felt were directed at him.
04:20Nearly two decades later, the offending missions and Goldberg remain in the game, and Thompson
04:25has seemingly dropped this particular case.
04:28Karen Gravano is adored for her famous mobster Salvatore Gravano, a familial connection that
04:33led to her being one of the stars of the long-running reality series Mob Wives in its first three
04:38seasons.
04:39In the Grand Theft Auto circles, Karen Gravano has also become famous for suing Rockstar
04:43Games to the tune of $40 million, claiming that the developer based GTA 5 character Antonia
04:49Bertino off of her life story.
04:51The character in the game is also the daughter of an infamous mob boss who has notably forbidden
04:56his kin from appearing in a reality show, so it makes sense that Gravano saw some similarities
05:01between the character and her own experience.
05:03In reply, Rockstar Games noted that Antonia Bertino looks a bit different from Karen Gravano.
05:09Also arguing,
05:10"...the major event befalling Bertino, being kidnapped and nearly buried alive, undisputedly
05:14is not an element of Ms. Gravano's life."
05:17Despite Gravano's claims that the game infringed upon her personal history and a planned memoir,
05:22the satirical bends to Rockstar's storyline and the differences from her real-life story
05:26led to the case being tossed out.