Lawrence Sullivan, famously known as the “Florida Joker,” recently gave the final ultimatum to Rockstar Games for using his appearance in GTA 6. The much-anticipated trailer of the game hyped fans up once it was finally revealed to the public. Many sharp-eyed fans quickly dove into the trailer and highlighted the references featured in the trailer to real-life events and people in GTA 6’s Leonida (Florida) setting.
One tattooed criminal was also seen getting arrested in the trailer, after which many players started comparing him to Lawrence Sullivan’s 2017 mugshot. Sullivan also noticed his resemblance to the GTA 6 character and later posted a video saying that he and Rockstar “needed to talk” about the devs possibly “stealing” his likeness.
In spite of onlookers like Red Dead Redemption 2 actor Rodger Clark making discouraging remarks, Sullivan has continued to pursue legal action, even dyeing his hair purple to match the GTA 6 character he claims is modeled after him despite the fact that the NPC in question is not an exact match for the Florida Joker. He also went as far as demanding $1 million from Rockstar Games for potentially parodying him for “free marketing.”
In his latest video, Sullivan said he contacted his lawyers to sue Rockstar and that this would be the “final warning” before his legal team took action against the company. He states that his lawyers sent a letter to Rockstar and expect a response by Sullivan’s birthday on January 11. He emphasized his previous claims and claimed he’s getting harassed over his potential GTA 6 parody.
Now, he’s asking for $5 million in order to avoid the legal action he has been threatening the company with for the past month. However, this isn’t the first time a public figure threatened to sue Rockstar for using a character possibly modeled after them. In 2014, Lindsay Lohan claimed the developer stole her likeness for Lacey Jonas, a GTA 5 character, but her case was abandoned in 2018.
What evidence does Sullivan have against Rockstar?
Sullivan also referenced this case during his complaint against Rockstar Games, claiming that he had “hard evidence” that the character in the GTA 6 trailer had been inspired by his popular mugshot. However, this “hard evidence” doesn't consist of much, except for Lawrence comparing himself to the GTA 6 character’s screenshots. As it turns out, his tattoos aren’t even similar to those on Sullivan’s face, with the main example being the word “IMPENTINENT” written across the NPC’s forehead.
Considering this point and Rockstar’s past experience with such types of legal matters, there’s a high chance that Sullivan won’t win any legal actions he chooses to take in case the developer refuses to respond to his “final warning” by January 11. His evidence also won’t assist him in any way since there isn’t much for him to show so far. Rockstar hasn’t spoken up on the matter so far, so it remains to be seen what happens.
GTA 6 is set to come out in 2025 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.
