Sofia Vergara Sued Over Netflix
Sofia Vergara is being sued by the estate of Colombian queen-pin Griselda Blanco because of a new Netflix series depicting the life of the infamous drug lord. Vergara is listed as a defendant in the suit, along with the streaming company, while Blanco’s adult children are acting as representatives of the estate. The suit claims that the new series is using Blanco’s family’s image and likeness without permission and aims to stop the show from being released.
Griselda Blanco Restrepo, aka the Black Widow or Cocaine Godmother, gained prominence as a Colombian drug lord involved in the cocaine trade and the Miami underworld from the 1970s to the early 2000s. Some sources allege her connection to the Medellín Cartel. She was assassinated in 2012, and now her story is about to be released on Netflix with Sofia Vergara playing the crime queen.
The Netflix miniseries is a fictional adaptation of Blanco’s life, called Griselda, showcasing the woman’s journey from involvement in the cartel to becoming “the Godmother” of Miami’s drug empire. The series was directed by Andrés Baiz and produced by Eric Newman and Sofía Vergara. It’s set to be released to the streaming platform on January 25.
While it’s perfectly legal for Sofia Vergara to play Blanco in the adaptation because Blanco was a public figure, Blanco’s estate argues the series unethically uses information attained from Michael Corleone Blanco, the queen-pin’s son. According to Michael, he’s been giving interviews since 2009 (and as recently as 2022) about his and his mother’s lives in hopes that the information could be turned into a production and a book.
The people that Michael was being interviewed by began to use his interviews to shop the project between different producers in Hollywood starting in 2016. According to the lawsuit, the project was eventually pitched to Netflix, who was interested but didn’t want to use any of Michael’s information. The suit mentions that the interviewers pitched the project to a producer with the streaming service, but it’s unclear if this was Sofia Vergara or Eric Newman, Griselda’s current producer.
Apparently, Michael recently learned that Griselda does in fact use information from the interviews he gave over the past 13 years, using his anecdotes and material to craft the miniseries’ plot, but he never gave permission or saw any payment. Additionally, Michael and his siblings claim that Sofia Vergara’s new show uses their images and likenesses, violating their rights as they never gave permission.
Griselda has not yet been released to the public, so it’s unclear how Blanco’s estate knows that Sofia Vergara’s new series infringed on their rights. Nevertheless, Blanco’s estate aims to have a judge remove the show from the platform ahead of its release date.
Griselda is one of three upcoming projects Sofia Vergara has in the works. In addition to the six-episode miniseries, the Modern Family actress will appear in This Is Me… Now, a musical written and starring Jennifer Lopez, and Koati: Animated Series, an animated family film following a family of exotic rainforest animals living in Latin America.
