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Lindsay Lohan allegedly plans to sue Rockstar Games for ‘GTA V’ likeness

Adam Rosenberg
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GTA
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Lindsay Lohan’s lawyers are reportedly preparing to file a lawsuit against Rockstar Games for the unauthorized use of the bad girl celeb’s likeness in Grand Theft Auto V, according to TMZ. The allegations seem to stem from three specific, unrelated elements in the game: a bikini-clad woman holding a cellphone on the game’s cover; a random event mission in which you help Los Santos celebutard Lacey Jonas get back home while avoiding paparazzi; and a pair of Strangers and Freaks missions involving Poppy Mitchell, (a returning character from the Grand Theft Auto IV DLC The Ballad of Gay Tony) in which you must snap photos of another local celebutard having sex in the Los Santos take on Chateau Marmont, where Lohan used to live, then later chasing her as she flees from police while driving drunk.

There’s been no official word on Lohan’s alleged plans to file a lawsuit, and our request for comment from Rockstar was greeted with silence. It’s not even clear if the examples cited above are specifically targeted in the as-yet-unfiled lawsuit or if they’re simply being held up as speculation on TMZ’s part. Rockstar boss and GTA V writer Dan Houser has publicly stated in the past that GTA V skipped using real world celebrities in the game for a range of reasons. 

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Perhaps Lohan is trying to build a case that she’s got the monopoly on ridiculous celebrity behavior, and so all examples in the game of famous, young women doing terrible things all fall into her wheelhouse. More likely, there’s some specific instance or set of instances that Lohan’s legal counsel intends to zero in on. From a non-lawyer’s lay perspective, it seems like these will be tough allegations to prove, given that there’s no character in the game bearing Lohan’s name, and no behavior or talk that specifically references any of her past antics.

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And hey, while TMZ does tend to have solid sources that give accurate news, it’s also possible that this report is either untrue or lacking some important context. Whatever the reality is, we’ll hear about it soon enough if any kind of legal action is to move forward. 

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Adam Rosenberg
Adam Rosenberg
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…
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