Florida Joker Accuses Rockstar Of Stealing His Likeness In Wild GTA 6 Trailer, Wants $2M
One such peculiar person is the real-life man known as "Florida Joker", sometimes also "Joker305" or "JokerGang". His real name is Lawrence Sullivan, and he's from Gulfport, Florida. You might have seen him around the internet; he went viral back in 2017 when he was arrested for a weapons charge after allegedly brandishing a firearm at vehicles in traffic in broad daylight.
A huge part of Grand Theft Auto's identity as a series has been parodying and satirizing real-life events, usually by exaggerating them to extreme degrees. GTA VI is now confirmed to be taking place in that universe's analog for Miami, Florida known as Vice City. The recently-released trailer for the future title showcased many things taken directly from real life, like an alligator crawling into a retail store, a woman threatening a camera with a pair of hammers, and another woman tweking on top of a moving vehicle.
Among these parodies was a mugshot of a heavily-tattooed man that bore a significant resemblance to the aforementioned Florida Joker. This parody did not go unnoticed by the man himself. In a TikTok video, he tells viewers that if you don't see the admittedly-obvious resemblance, you are "out your g-ddamn nugget".
He goes on to say that he wants Rockstar to contact him about his appearance in the game, and that otherwise, wants the game company to "give [him] a million or two." He compares the character in the game trailer with his own mugshot that previously went viral, and then continues, saying "Florida Joker ain't having that. Y'all took my likeness. Y'all took my life. Thats' the person they got their inspiration from. That's me."
Rockstar hasn't responded to Sullivan yet, but we wouldn't be surprised if the company never does. Parody is protected under fair use, and while the resemblance is clear, it's also obviously not actually Sullivan himself. We're not lawyers, but to our eyes Rockstar has a fairly clear-cut case for parody here, and even if they didn't, Sullivan would have to prove that Rockstar's parody of him damaged him in some way. Besides, this isn't the first time that Rockstar has been sued over a supposed likeness.
On the other hand, considering that this controversy is likely the first time that many people have ever heard of him, it seems rather unlikely that the Florida Joker could prove Rockstar damaged him with its parody. Still, we have to admire his moxie for going for it, anyway. Maybe if he does get in contact with the game developer, he could get an actual cameo in the game. Not a bad booby prize in the end.
