Face-tatted Florida man says video game character is him, wants huge payout
A Florida man who went viral in 2017 over a mugshot showcasing his "Joker"-styled face tattoos accused a gaming company of ripping off his likeness in the latest Grand Theft Auto video game.
"GTA we got to talk," Lawrence Sullivan said in a TikTok video posted last week. "If not, you got to give me like a mil or two."
Sullivan was reacting to the latest trailer for Grand Theft Auto IV, which was released last Monday and garnered more than 93 million views in 24 hours on YouTube, shattering previous records for a non-music video.
After the trailer’s wildly popular release, commenters sounded off that some of the characters in the game resembled a handful of viral real-life Florida moments, including an alligator walking into a convenience store, a woman threatening people with two hammers, and a police officer chasing a naked man down a street, according to video game website Kotaku.
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Sullivan’s mugshot was listed among the game’s similarities to real-life viral Florida moments. He was arrested in 2017 in Miami for pointing a firearm at vehicles, and his mugshot subsequently went viral due to his face tattoos resembling the Joker of Batman villain infamy. He has since been known as "Florida Joker" or "Miami Joker," according to the Tampa Bay Times.
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"Reborn, re-death type of stuff," Sullivan told WFLA-Ch. 8 of his tattoos after he was arrested again in 2018 for violating his probation. "That old Lawrence you saw with the plain face, he’s dead."
"This is the new Lawrence slash Joker," he continued during an interview from the local jail.
Now, Sullivan is working as a tattoo model, according to The Tampa Bay Times, and is accusing Rockstar Games of using his viral booking photo as inspiration for a character in the game.
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"Florida Joker ain't having that," Sullivan said in the TikTok video. "Y'all took my likeness. Y'all took my life."
"That's me. That's the person they got their inspiration from," Sullivan added. "That's me."
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This isn’t the first time someone has accused Rockstar Games of using a person’s likeness for a character. Actress Lindsay Lohan launched a lawsuit against the gaming company in 2014 claiming one of the characters looked, sounded and dressed like her.
The New York Supreme Court dismissed the suit in 2016, indicating Sullivan might have a difficult legal battle if he attempts to sue the company.
Sullivan did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for additional comment on social media. Fox News Digital also reached out to Rockstar Games for comment on Sullivan’s claims.
Grand Theft Auto VI is slated for release in 2025.