Do you think that the character on The Simpson’s, Louie, and the character, Frankie Carbone from ‘The Goodfella’s’ look-alike? According to a report by Deadline which was posted on Oct. 21, actor Frank Sivero says they do. According to the report, he has now filed a $250 million lawsuit against Fox for The Simpson’s ‘ripping off his likeness.’
According to a report posted by IGN, the Goodfella’s actor filed a 12-page complaint against the network for stealing the character. He claims that the producer of The Simpson’s, James L. Brooks was,
Highly aware of who Sivero was, the fact that he created the role of Frankie Carbone, and that The Simpsons character Louie would be based on this character.
It took him a while to file the lawsuit for some reason because character, Louie’s first appearance on the animated show was all the way back in 1991. However, since then, The Simpson’s has made as much as $12 billion in revenue through the show, video games, a movie, and much more since the character first appeared. Because of this, Mr. Sivero thinks he should get some of that revenue since he claims the character is based off of his character on The Goodfella’s. As a matter of fact, Sivero states he:
Has suffered, and continues to suffer severe financial damages in the form of lost income [the] Plaintiff should have received in compensation for his name and likeness being used in the manner described herein.
Although the two characters do look-alike, you have to wonder if other celebrities like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mike Tyson, and even the Kennedy family will follow him and file suits against Fox too.
