9 Bizarre Lawsuits Filed Against The Grand Theft Auto Series

7. Sued By Michael 'Shagg' Washington Over Likeness Issue

In order to give Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas a degree of authenticity, Rockstar North invited a backup singer from Cypress Hill to the studio for an interview. Michael 'Shagg' Washington reportedly met with the developers in order to discuss his life story, from his early days as a gang-member to his musical career. If the developers decided to use any of the biographical information, 'Shagg' was told that he would be contacted by telephone, at which point the two parties would presumedly discuss royalties and the like. Rockstar never called 'Shagg', but when the game was finally released in 2004, 'Shagg' noticed some striking similarities between himself and protagonist Carl 'CJ' Johnson. For one thing, CJ is often depicted in the game riding bicycles with his fellow gang-members, something which Shagg claimed was inspired by his own life story. As well as that, Shagg claimed that CJ's appearance in the game was based on his own, and that Rockstar had stolen his likeness without prior permission. In 2012 however, the lawsuit was dismissed by the judge, who claimed:

plaintiff is relying entirely on CJ's physical appearance in the game, but that appearance is so generic that it necessarily includes hundreds of other black males.