The “saga” surrounding the Florida Joker and his alleged copy in the trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI seems to be coming to an end. Lawrence Sullivan has now spoken out again and is now quite tame towards Rockstar Games compared to previous appearances.
The Grand Theft Auto VI trailer hit like a bomb last year, setting records and offering all sorts of references to real-world locations and characters. Among other things, a criminal with facial tattoos could be seen, who appears to be based on a viral police photo from earlier years – except that the facial tattoos on the game character are completely different.
But that hasn’t stopped the real Florida Joker, who goes by the name Lawrence Sullivan, from rumbling against Rockstar Games on a large scale in recent weeks. The studio stole his identity, benefited from “his” copied appearance in the trailer and therefore owes him compensation. He once demanded several million dollars from Rockstar and threatened to sue several times.
Rockstar Games basically didn’t care at all, also because a legal expert in the USA said Sullivan had very little chance of success with a lawsuit and the development studio is very familiar with such events from the past and sometimes even takes them into account. Rockstar’s reaction to Sullivan’s demand: none at all!
@lawrence.sullivan0 Gta we got to talk #gta6 #fyp #jokerchallenge #jokerface #batman #fishing #beach #food #dog #sunset #life #joker #gta5 ♬ original sound – Lawrence Sullivan
Sullivan then changed his strategy and finally demanded that he at least be allowed to set the corresponding character to music in the game. Now he has spoken out again and confirmed: There will be no lawsuit on his part against Rockstar Games.
“I won’t sue you any further,” said Sullivan. However, he still wants to voice the character in the game. “Let’s do what’s right. Give me $50,000 or $100,000. Let me voice the character, let me go to meet-and-greets when the game is released and take photos with fans and sign them.”
Despite not filing a lawsuit, he maintains his position that the past two months in which he tried to talk to Rockstar were an obvious violation of his personal rights. At the end of the day, he also made sure to “make the game more relevant” and he sees himself as the reason “that the game is so hyped right now.”
The fact that Grand Theft Auto VI, which was considered the most hotly anticipated game of all long before it was officially announced, owes its previous fame primarily to Florida Joker will probably bring more than just a tired smile from Rockstar Games.