Borat Sued By University of South Carolina Frat Members
The frat kids in the van in the Borat movie have sued Sacha Baron Cohen (whose name they misspell as "Sasha" in the first line of the complaint) and the production companies involved in the move, seeking damages and an injunction. You can find the complaint here.
According to the complaint's allegations, the producers got the plaintiffs drunk first, had them sign a release based on the assumption that they would not be identified and that the film would not be shown in the United States, and then piled them into the van, where the events in the film occurred. Among other things, the complaint states that the film falsely depicts them as insensitive to minorities. Interestingly, it does not say that their apparent insensitivity to women was a false depiction.
Finally, of interest only to civil procedure nerds like myself, the suit is brought in state court in California, evidently to make it unremovable to federal court. (Although there appears to be diversity of citizenship, most of the defendants are based in California, and thus can't remove.)
According to the complaint's allegations, the producers got the plaintiffs drunk first, had them sign a release based on the assumption that they would not be identified and that the film would not be shown in the United States, and then piled them into the van, where the events in the film occurred. Among other things, the complaint states that the film falsely depicts them as insensitive to minorities. Interestingly, it does not say that their apparent insensitivity to women was a false depiction.
Finally, of interest only to civil procedure nerds like myself, the suit is brought in state court in California, evidently to make it unremovable to federal court. (Although there appears to be diversity of citizenship, most of the defendants are based in California, and thus can't remove.)