The Grand Theft Auto franchise has nearly always used a good looking, scantily clad, suggestive cartoon women in their promotional material or for loading scenes. You never really take much notice of it because you're really just waiting for the mission to start but it's there nonetheless.
But one famous Hollywood A-lister definitely did take notice because she thought Take-Two Interactive Software, which owns Rockstar Games, modelled two characters off her for Grand Theft Auto: V.
Advert
Lindsay Lohan kicked off a lawsuit against the game developer for not only using her likeness for the cartoons, but also for creating another character, Lacey Jonas, which she said was similar to her life.
In the game, Jonas is famous for her high school movies and is described as 'very image-conscious'. The media and her fans are obsessed with her and she claims that a paparazzi photo can get a six-figure sum with the big tabloids, which mock her thin frame by calling her Emacy Jonas.
Advert
And here I thought GTA was all about stealing cars and going on rampages.
But while that was all the work of fiction, Lindsay Lohan thought Rockstar Games used her as inspiration for Lacey as well as the two loading screens of the bikini clad woman (which a lot of people thought looked more like Kate Upton) and woman bent over a car being arrested.
The actor took the company to court back in 2014 and it reached all the way to the New York Court of Appeals after being dismissed by a lower court, reports Sky News.
After all that work, however, Lohan was left with nothing after the court ruled in favour of Take-Two Interactive Software.
"The Jonas character simply is not recognizable as plaintiff inasmuch as it merely is a generic artistic depiction of a 'twenty something' woman without any particular identifying physical characteristics," Judge Eugene Fahey wrote in his ruling.
"The analysis with respect to the Beach Weather and Stop and Frisk illustrations is the same. Those artistic renderings are indistinct, satirical representations of the style, look, and persona of a modern, beach-going young woman."
British-American model and journalist Shelby Welinder came forward before the ruling revealing that she was the person used for the bikini woman and even had a payslip from Rockstar Games to prove they employed her.
That wasn't the only battle that GTA developers were up against, but thankfully for them, the court ruled in their favour. Reality TV star Karen Gravano claimed a different character in the game was based on her but that case was rejected.
Featured Image Credit: Rockstar GamesTopics: GTA, GAMING, Entertainment, Celebrity, Grand Theft Auto