‘Griselda’ Lands on Netflix Despite Lawsuit from the Ex-Cartel Leader’s Family

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Netflix subscribers might just have their next bingeworthy show with Griselda, a new limited series starring Sofía Vergara as infamous Colombian drug lord Griselda Blanco that released Thursday. But according to a recent lawsuit, Blanco’s son feels very differently about the highly anticipated project.

According to USA Today, Michael Corleone Blanco, 45, and his wife, Marie, filed a lawsuit in Miami-Dade County court last week against Vergara, the streaming service, and others involved in the new series. It accuses show creators of using his likeness without permission, and he even sought an emergency temporary injunction to block the series’ release—a petition that wasn’t granted as all episodes dropped on schedule. Representatives for Netflix haven’t commented publicly about the case.

Here’s what you need to know about the legal challenge and what one of the show’s creators has said about it.

What Does the Lawsuit Say?

Michael, identified in the lawsuit as Michael Sepulveda Blanco, claims Griselda used his unreleased “artistic literary work” and likeness to “depict the life story of himself and his mother, Griselda Blanco De Trujillo” without proper permission or credit.

Believed to be the only surviving son of Griselda Blanco, Michael released his own e-book this week titled My Mother, The Godmother, and the True Story of Michael Corleone Blanco. He has said on social media the book, which still has yet to release in print, isn’t associated with Griselda and “not related to any other known projects in any form or fashion.”

According to CBS News, Michael said he has been giving interviews to people interested in developing productions about his mother’s life since 2009. While Netflix had expressed interest in a project about Griselda in the past, he claims the streaming service didn’t consult prior interviews with him in creating the new series and didn’t properly compensate him for using his mother’s story.

Additionally, the suit claims the likenesses of family members were used in the production of Griselda without permission. USA Today reported Michael is seeking at least $100,000 in damages.

You Can Still Watch Griselda

According to NBC 6 South Florida, a hearing in the case was held Wednesday. While no details of the meeting have been made public, the injunction was apparently not granted as all six episodes of Griselda became available as scheduled Thursday.

The show’s creators have said very little about the lawsuit. Executive producer Eric Newman has acknowledged it, telling Today.com the legal challenge “comes with the territory” of making a show about such a notorious figure. “I dealt with similar suits from Pablo Escobar, his family, during the making of [prior Netflix series] Narcos,” Newman said. “I tend not to think much about them. It just feels a little bit unsurprising.”

What Is Griselda About?

Netflix has described Griselda as a “fictionalized dramatization inspired by the life of the savvy and ambitious Griselda Blanco, who created one of the most powerful cartels in history.”

Known as the “Godmother of Cocaine” and “Black Widow,” Blanco was a central figure of the Miami drug war of the 1970s and ’80s and developed a barbarous reputation. She was ultimately convicted of conspiracy to manufacture, import into the United States, and distribute cocaine in 1985 and sentenced to 15 years in prison. In 1998, she also pleaded guilty to three charges of second-degree murder as part of a deal with prosecutors.

After Blanco’s death in 2012, some authorities estimated she was responsible for 40 murders; others believed as many as 250 deaths.

Vergara, 51, has said she was drawn to playing the character because of her complexity and and ruthlessness. “I was fascinated, because I grew up in Colombia in this era, and I never heard about a woman that was a head of a cartel,” she told Entertainment Tonight. “There were girlfriends, there were wives, but not this woman that was competing, and getting to the level of these men. I was blown away.

“We didn’t want to romanticize her or make her a hero, because she wasn’t. But no matter what anyone says, this was a very interesting character.”

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