‘Wolf Of Wall Street’ Defamation Suit Might Be Dismissed

The Wolf of Wall Street’s lawsuit may not happen after all. Early in February former Stratton Oakmont broker Andrew Greene took issue with how he was portrayed in the film. Because of his unhappiness with how he was represented, Greene decided to draw up a lawsuit against the producers of Wolf of Wall Street.

The lawsuit claims that the Martin Scorsese film “deceptively represented him.” Greene alleges that his role in Stratton Oakmont was created as the character Nicky “Rugrat” Koskoff. The character didn’t steal any scenes, but his hair piece sure did. In the Wolf of Wall Street the character’s toupee was pointed out as his trademark.

While the toupee probably didn’t add to the injury, Greene decided to file the lawsuit so the character wouldn’t be associated with him. In the film the character believed to be based on Greene was in on the crazy misogynistic behavior, and a few scenes that saw the characters largely abusing drugs.

Weeks later and Paramount has finally responded to the Wolf of Wall Street lawsuit. The studio is demanding that the lawsuit filed by Andrew Greene be dismissed.

In hopes that a New York federal judge will dismiss the lawsuit, Paramount Pictures stated:

“Nobody can reasonably dispute that the Film is about the bizarre travesty that was Stratton Oakmont, and that plaintiff was one of the malefactors whose central role in Stratton Oakmont inspired Mr. Scorsese’s film.”

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Paramount Pictures issue is Greene’s point that the character of Nicky Koskoff is based on him. According to Paramount’s attorneys, the Wolf of Wall Street character is “not of and concerning” with Greene. If the judge decides to go forward with the Wolf lawsuit, Paramount is hoping they can argue that the movie is artistic and expresses the “newsworthy” nature rather than focusing on the financial fraud that takes place with the character.

Although Jordan Belfort has been very open about his exploits on Wall Street, and has given Leonardo DiCaprio’s portrayal the seal of approval, Paramount has stated that Scorsese’s film is not a “documentary” and that liberties were taken for creative purposes.

Greene also states in the papers that the Wolf of Wall Street has created an invasion of privacy, and that the film, “contains various scenes wherein Mr. Greene’s character is portrayed as a criminal, drug user, degenerate, depraved, and/or devoid of any morality or ethics.”

Paramount countered that Belforte’s book, which the film is based on, ” did not have only one dishonest executive with a notable toupee.”

“Indeed, because the use of Plaintiff’s image in the Film is related to a newsworthy purpose, the claim must be dismissed. Here, there can be no question that the Film, which explores the important issues of massive financial and securities fraud, was newsworthy. And, to the extent Plaintiff’s image was used in the Film, it was used to details this important topic,” said a Paramount rep.

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[Image Credit: Paramount Pictures]