Back in 2019 Hustlers hit theaters for the first time. An American crime drama, the film was based around a group of strippers who get the idea to drug and rob the wealthy Wall-Street types who visit their club. The crew drugs their targets and runs up their credit cards under the assumption that they’ll be too embarrassed or confused to report them to the police. Famously the film was based on a real series of events originally publicized by New York Magazine under the title “The Hustlers at Scores.”
While the film is not an entirely faithful retelling of the true story, most of the major plot details are accurate or at least based on what really happened. Unfortunately for the producers, this led to one of the real people involved being less than pleased about how she was depicted. Samantha Barbash, who was involved in the real conspiracy, sued the production companies involved over the depiction of “Romona” who was played by Jennifer Lopez and based on Barbash. It was argued that the production companies had used her likeness without permission and had defamed her as a result.
Unfortunately for Barbash her lawsuit has been dismissed in court. The argument that the film violated her privacy was quickly brushed aside, as the film did not use her real name, appearance, or any clips of her voice. As for the defamation, things were a little more blurry. The judge involved did concede that the film may have exaggerated aspects of her life. Barbash contests that she did not develop the recipe for the drugs as depicted in the movie, nor did she manufacture or use them.
However, the judge determined that Barbash is a limited-purpose public figure, meaning that, to a reasonable extent, it is acceptable to produce content based on her life without explicit permission. Due to the fact that Barbash had pled guilty to the conspiracy and gave multiple interviews about her actions, she cannot claim a right to privacy for these events. In addition, other sources have already publicized the allegation that Barbash concocted the drugs, and she could not prove that the producers acted maliciously by suggesting she had used them herself. All this means that the lawsuit was ruled in favor of the producers, and Barbash will not be receiving any compensation for defamation.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
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