Less than a week before the release of Griselda, a new Netflix series from the creators of Narcos that puts Sofia Vergara in the role of the real-life Cocaine Godmother, both the actress and the streaming platform were slapped with a lawsuit from Griselda Blanco’s family.
The suit was filed by Blanco’s son Michael — the late drug-lord was killed in a drive-by shooting in 2012 — who alleges that he’d been giving a series of interview since 2009 about his mother that were to be turned into a movie and a book. According to Michael, the individuals began shopping the story around Hollywood, but when it landed at Netflix, the streamer didn’t want to use the details he provided.
However, according to TMZ, the lawsuit claims that some of those details still made it into Griselda without compensating Michael, and that he and his sister’s likeness were used without permission. As of now, the lawsuit has not derailed Griselda‘s release, and the show is available for streaming on Netflix. However, Vergara was asked about the legal action during a recent interview.
Here’s what she told Entertainment Tonight:
Vergara describes Griselda as “a complex person.” “There are so many nuances to explore in terms of who she was as a drug lord and, of course, as a woman, as a mother,” she explained. “She was someone who did whatever it took to protect her family.”
She added, “I really wanted to explore that from the point of view of, you know, of her being one of the only women in history to have gone as far as she did.”
While Vergara didn’t directly address the lawsuit, Griselda creator Eric Newman gave a much more blunt response.
“It’s not my first rodeo,” he said via IndieWire. “The Escobar family made similar claims [for the TV series ‘Narcos’]. We had a very specific story we wanted to tell. I believe we told it, and I don’t think it in any way prevents someone else from telling their own version of it.”
Griselda is now streaming on Netflix.
(Via IndieWire, Entertainment Tonight)