8 Times Celebrities Spectacularly Failed At Suing The Gaming Industry
3. Karen Gravano
A 'celebrity' in terms of appearing on VH1's 'Mob Wives' TV show - a series that's literally just about the spouses of criminals - Gravano ended up pointing the finger at Rockstar following her discovery of a mission featuring a character - Antonia Bottino - that she was convinced was based off her own experiences. A strange point to make for sure as it implies Rockstar went out of their way to focus on someone who's most definitely very far off anybody's radar, Karen then went on to mention that as GTA V had garnered unprecedented dollars since release, she'd be wanting $40 million of it in return for being in the game. Her case does have some initial merit as the character of Bottino stars in the satirical version of Mob Wives - 'Wise B*tches' - where her character testifies against certain family members; something Gravano could draw a direct similarity to. Rockstar promptly shut the whole thing down, stating - completely expectedly - that a life story isn't something protected under law, and "merely because the actual experiences of the living person had been similar to the acts and events so narrated" it was still "a work of fiction." There was also the small matter that Bottino's character is almost buried alive following a kidnapping, something the developer said is "undisputedly is not an element of Ms. Gravanos life." Nice try, though.
