Samantha Barbash, one of the strippers who inspired the Jennifer Lopez-led film “Hustlers”, is suing STX Entertainment for $40 million.
According to the court docs obtained by The Wrap, Barbash claims the film defamed her and failed to uphold her civil rights.
“Hustlers” is based on the 2015 New York Magazine piece, entitled “The Hustlers at Scores”, telling the story of former strippers at a club in New York City who drugged their clients and took their credit cards.
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Lopez, who earned a Golden Globe nod and gathered some serious Oscar buzz for her portrayal, played Barbash on the big screen but she was renamed, Ramona.
Barbash received five years of probation after pleading guilty to conspiracy, assault and grand larceny. She’s threatened to sue the production company when the film came out this past summer.
But in September, Barbash’s lawyers sent a letter claiming producers never paid her for her life story and threatened again to sue the movie studio if a deal was not reached.
Barbash filed the lawsuit on Tuesday.
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“Defendants attempted to obtain a consent and waiver from Ms. Barbash for the production of the film and their ultimate portrayal of the plaintiff therein. However, Ms. Barbash refused to give her consent or waive any of her privacy rights,” the lawsuit filed on Tuesday reads. “Nonetheless with blatant disregard for their lack of authority and/or consent, defendants proceeded to exploit Ms. Barbash’s likeness and character for the film and the promotion thereof.”
A spokesman for STX said that while the studio has yet to see the filed complaint, “we will continue to defend our right to tell factually based stories based on the public record.”
“Hustlers,” grossed more than $157 million at the worldwide box office.
