Jennifer Lopez after her Golden Globe win snub is being faced with a lawsuit charge by Samantha Barbash, the woman whose real-life story inspired the making of ‘Hustlers’.
In ‘Hustlers’ Lopez played the character Ramona, a fiction name that portrayed the true life of Barbash and her colleague strippers who drugged and swindled rich men at strip clubs. The projected story according to Barbash defames her likeness and was taken to the big screen without her permission. She deems the portrayal of her character in ‘Hustlers’ was ‘grossly irresponsible’ in fictionalizing parts of the film.
A key part of her suit is in relation to the scenes portraying her character as using and manufacturing illegal substances in her home where she lived with her child. She believes it is an offensive act to her personality and taints her reputation personally and in her business as a beauty salon owner.
Barbash is therefore suing Lopez’s company Nuyorican Productions and STX for a cash of $40 million in damages and also demands of the court to ban distribution of the film and at the same ordering defendants to give her all copies of the material.
In response to the lawsuit underway, STX spokesperson delivered a statement to ‘The Hollywood Reporter’ on Wednesday saying, “While we have not yet seen the complaint, we will continue to defend our right to tell factually based stories on the public record.”
‘Hustlers’ secured Lopez her second Golden Globe nomination in the best supporting actress category after 20 years. While Hollywood awaits a possible Oscar nod in her direction on Monday, she is also nominated in the outstanding performance by a female actor in a supporting role category for the Screen Actors Guild Awards 2020.
