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Sofia Vergara and Netflix are being sued by the family of a late Colombian drug lord over an upcoming show.
According to a report from TMZ, the adult children of Griselda Blanco, who started one of the biggest drug cartels in history, are suing the actress and streaming platform for using their family’s name, image, and likeness.
The show that has come under scrutiny is Griselda, which is currently scheduled to hit Netflix on Thursday, January 25.
Michael Blanco, the youngest son of Griselda, claims that he had been doing interviews for years about his family and life story before it was shopped to producers, and Netflix ultimately picked it up without any compensation for his family.
From the report:
Michael claims that these fellas he was consulting with not only wanted to develop his narrative into a show, but into a book as well — and he says 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 wanna use any of his details or consultations from the interviews he’d done.
Fast-forward to the present, and Michael claims he’s learned this new ‘Griselda’ show does, in fact, lean on a lot of his anecdotes and material … but he says he never saw a dime.
The series, which says it is “inspired by real events, this fictional dramatization shows Griselda Blanco’s journey from Medellín to becoming ‘the Godmother’ of Miami’s drug empire,” was created by the same crew who brought Narcos to Netflix.
Whether the lawsuit will be successful and stop the series from airing in less than one week remains to be seen, but it is currently still listed on Netflix’s upcoming releases.
