The Simpsons has never shied away from drawing inspiration from various actors, politicians and musicians over the years, but the show isn't making a fan out of Goodfellas actor Frank Sivero. He is going after Fox Television Studios with a lawsuit for allegedly using his likeness without permission in the form of The Simpsons character, Louie.
Sivero played gangster Frankie Carbone in the 1990 mob movie Goodfellas. A year later, The Simpsons debuted the Louie character, a mafia henchmen who has since appeared in 16 episodes of the show, according to the lawsuit. Looking at the two side-by-side, they do share a number of similarities.
Sivero, in the lawsuit, claims Simpsons writers were his neighbors in 1989 and as a result were aware of Sivero developing the Carbone character.
"Louie's appearance and mannerisms are strongly evocative of the character actor Frank Sivero," the lawsuit reads, courtesy of Deadline.
Sivero and his lawyers are seeking a combined total of $250 million in damages from Fox for using Sivero's likeness without permission, exemplary damages, improper interference and improper appropriation of the Plaintiff's confidential idea.
"The Simpsons continued use of Sivero's image and likeness for commercial purposes are all done without Sivero's consent and without compensating Sivero," the lawsuit states. It also goes on to comment about how Simpsons production company Gracie films, owned by James Brooks, allegedly promised Sivero the two would work together on a film in the future. That never came to pass, and from the looks of it Sivero isn't happy about it.
This isn't the first time the actor has gone to court over his likeness, either. According to the New York Daily News, Sivero once sued a sandwich shop in California for using his picture to promote an Italian sandwich named after Carbone. The pictures were later removed and the sandwich renamed.
The suit isn't terribly different from another recent and high-profile likeness lawsuit involving Lindsay Lohan and the video game Grand Theft Auto V. Lohan and her lawyers say promotional materials for the game featuring a woman in a bikini and a struggling celebrity character seen in the game itself are both modeled off her likeness without permission. Whether or not anything will come from the two lawsuits remains to be seen, but Fox has yet to comment on Sivero's allegations.
