Rockstar Games Facing Lawsuit Over Miss Cleo Lookalike Character

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Rockstar Games typically include lots of satire in their Grand Theft Auto series, and they’ve also faced some lawsuits here and there regarding the content of their games. A new lawsuit has surface (via TMZ) where a party is claiming damages for Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.


The new suit comes from the Psychic Readers Network, who claim ownership to the Miss Cleo character. A lookalike character, Auntie Poulet, was featured in the game and was voiced by the same woman, Youree Dell Harris. The group claims this is clearly infringing on their Miss Cleo character, and are seeking damages.

Miss Cleo reportedly cost the Psychic Readers Network $100 million to create and manage, which they’re saying is dwarfed by the profits Grand Theft Auto: Vice City saw at over $500 million. They’re suing other companies that assisted in the creation and distribution of the game as well.

Rockstar Games issued a statement to TMZ in response to the lawsuit:

“These claims are entirely meritless and completely ridiculous. We will vigorously defend ourselves with regard to this matter.”

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City originally launched for PlayStation 2 back in 2002, and was later ported to PC and Xbox in 2003, and later Mac and mobile devices in 2012 and 2013, respectively.

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