10 Movie Scenes That Led To Massive Lawsuits - Commenter Edition

6. Netflix Accused Of Defamation - The Laundromat

The Laundromat Gary Oldman Antonio Banderas
Netflix

Netflix's The Laundromat was one of the service's best original movies of 2019, but prior to its wide release, it was caught up in a complicated legal battle started by the two men at the centre of its story, Jurgen Mossack and Ramon Fonseca.

The duo - co-founders of Mossack Fonseca, a former law firm that was forced to close after some of its shady dealings were exposed by the Panama Papers - launched a defamation lawsuit against Netflix in October 2019, taking issue with the scenes featuring Gary Oldman and Antonio Banderas as Mossack and Fonseca, respectively, claiming that they were portrayed as "ruthless uncaring lawyers".

In its defence, Netflix described the film's take on the two men as "cartoonish", and said that director Steven Soderbergh had made a "comedic morality tale", before ending with the mic-drop line that Mossack and Fonseca's reputations were ruined "long before" the release of The Laundromat. Ouch.

Ultimately, a judge cleared the movie for release as planned, and upon hearing that verdict, Netflix called the lawsuit "a frivolous legal stunt designed to censor creative expression".

Contributor
Contributor

Danny has been with WhatCulture for over ten years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing since his early teens, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers, off the back of a burning obsession with the Matt Smith era of the show. Like many his age, he first got into Doctor Who with the 2005 revival, but has since gone back and fallen in love with the classic years too. If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order, or to give you a random factoid about the making of Gridlock, Danny is the person to ask!