Michael "The Situation" Sorrentino in Lawsuit Against Abercrombie Over G.T.L. Shirts
Categories: Celebrities
 |
| andpop.com |
A South Florida federal court and the clothing company Abercrombie & Fitch now have a situation -- the Situation.
The Jersey Shore star and his company, MPS Entertainment, are named as plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed yesterday against Abercrombie, alleging they were serving him the hater-juice by putting variations of his nickname and his famous G.T.L. (Gym, Tan, Laundry) acronym on their clothing without his consent.
You may recall the little stunt Abercrombie pulled when it announced it offered Sorrentino money to stop wearing the company's clothing, but the company now stands accused of ripping off his likeness and sayings to make some money.
"As a result of Defendant's publicity campaign, Defendant has significantly profited off of the use of a false affiliation with Sorrentino and it has wrongly used Sorrentino's name, image and likeness for advertising purposes in violation of applicable law," the suit says.
Attached to the lawsuit are pictures of two of the Abercrombie shirts in question -- one says "The Fitchuation," and the other says "G.T.L./(You know the deal)/Fitch."
The lawyers also attached all the various registered trademarks Sorrentino owns regarding "The Situation" and "G.T.L."
"The center piece of the advertising campaign was the huge success and popularity of Sorrentino," the lawsuit states. "The falsity of the advertising campaign is further demonstrated by Defendants actions to (at the same time that they are claiming that Sorrentino was damaging their image) attempt to associate themselves with Sorrentino by openly advertising specifically designed t-shirts using the Plaintiffs' [trademarks]."
The campaign was so successful, according to the lawsuit, that Abercombie ended up selling its entire inventory of the allegedly Sorrentino-related shirts.
After outlining the seven counts against Abercrombie and demanding a jury trial on all of them, Sorrentino's lawyers are asking for $1 million in royalties from the company as well as damages worth $4 million.
You can read the entire lawsuit, filed by a Miami-based firm, below:
Follow The Pulp on Facebook and on Twitter: @ThePulpBPB. Follow Matthew Hendley on Facebook and on Twitter: @MatthewHendley.
Write Comment
Email to Friend
Print Article
