Lindsay Lohan is suing the makers of the hugely popular video game Grand Theft Auto for creating a character that she alleges is based on her own image.
Lohan filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against developer Rockstar Games, claiming it used her likeness for the character of Lacey Jonas without permission in order to boost sales. Citing privacy laws, the actor is claiming unspecified damages from the owner of Rockstar, Take-Two Interactive Software, at the New York supreme court.
Lacey Jonas is described as a famous actress and a minor character in Grand Theft Auto V, which was released in September 2013. Players meet her in an alley in downtown "Vinewood" where she is hiding from the paparazzi. She asks to be driven home and, during the ride, Jonas complains about being famous and reveals she is anorexic. The character bears a strong resemblances to Lohan, especially on the front cover of the Grand Theft Auto game, where the character appears holding a mobile phone.
In the lawsuit, Lohan claims Rockstar also used her voice, image and outfits from her clothing label without permission. She cites the game's inclusion of Chateau Marmont Hotel in West Hollywood, where the actor once lived, as evidence of image rights violation.
Lohan became famous first as a child star in the remake of The Parent Trap, and then as a teenager in Freaky Friday and Mean Girls. Further work in big-budget family fare (Herbie Fully Loaded) followed alongside more serious roles such as Robert Altman's A Prairie Home Companion, but she drifted into B-movies, and has had issues with alcohol and legal problems.
The actor has been to rehab six times and has struggled to re-establish herself as a major star, despite a high-profile lead role in Paul Schrader's partly crowdfunded 2013 movie The Canyons, opposite porn star James Deen. Currently living in London, Lohan will make her London stage debut in a production of David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow on 24 September at Playhouse theatre.
Take-Two and Rockstar have not yet made public comments about Lohan's suit.
