Florida Joker Gives 'Final Warning' To Rockstar, Grand Theft Auto 6
Lawrence Sullivan, known to the public as the “Florida Joker,” has just given one last ultimatum to Rockstar Games over Grand Theft Auto 6. The highly-anticipated trailer for Rockstar’s latest open-world crime title sent shockwaves across the internet when it was finally released earlier this month, with eagle-eyed fans quickly pointing out references to real-life people and events within Grand Theft Auto 6’s Florida-inspired Leonida setting. One such character is a tattooed criminal being arrested during the GTA 6 trailer, who was soon compared to Lawrence Sullivan’s viral 2017 mugshot.
Sullivan himself took note of the Grand Theft Auto 6 character’s resemblance to him and soon posted a video claiming that he and Rockstar “needed to talk” over the developer allegedly "stealing" his likeness. Despite the NPC in question not being an exact match for the Florida Joker and discouraging remarks from onlookers like Red Dead Redemption 2 actor Rodger Clark, Sullivan has continued making legal demands as the weeks go on, even going as far as dyeing his hair purple to match the Grand Theft Auto 6 character he says is modeled after him. In a more recent video, Sullivan claimed that he has contacted his lawyers in preparation to sue Rockstar.
Over the holiday weekend, Lawrence Sullivan posted yet another video on his TikTok account demanding money from Rockstar, with this one supposedly being the “final warning” before he and his legal team take action against the company. Sullivan claims that his lawyers sent a letter to Rockstar and that they are expecting a response by Sullivan’s birthday on January 11. He also continues his past claims that he is being harassed over his alleged GTA 6 parody and that he is now asking for $5 million to avoid the legal action he has been threatening over the past month.
As many have pointed out, this is far from the first time a public figure threatened to sue Rockstar over a character supposedly modeled after them. In 2014, Lindsay Lohan claimed that the developer stole her likeness for Grand Theft Auto 5 character Lacey Jonas, but her case was eventually dropped in 2018. Lawrence Sullivan himself referenced this case during his own complaints against Rockstar, arguing that he actually has “hard evidence” that the Joker-like character in the GTA 6 trailer is inspired by his infamous mugshot.
So far, this “hard evidence” basically amounts to Lawrence Sullivan comparing himself to screenshots of the Grand Theft Auto 6 character in question, whose tattoos are noticeably different from the ones on Sullivan’s face - with a prime example being the word “IMPERTINENT” across the NPC’s forehead. Due to both this and Rockstar’s considerable experience with these kinds of legal matters, Sullivan likely won’t win any legal actions he might choose to take if the developer doesn’t respond to his “final warning” by January 11.