5.9k Share this
In the sixth season of the ultimate bros-being-bros comedy drama “Entourage,” Kevin Dillon’s character Johnny “Drama” Chase voices an animated character in a show-within-a show called “Johnny’s Bananas.” There was even talk of a spin-off for this particular creation. That was until the real-life man named Johnny Bananas (well, sort of) filed a lawsuit against the show and network in October 2011. Per The Hollywood Reporter, Bananas claimed in his suit that he’d suffered “tremendous emotional distress that has been intentionally inflicted upon plaintiff by defendants’ unwarranted, unauthorized, and unjustified use of plaintiff’s name and characterization in an offensive and disparaging manner.”
Alas, The Hollywood Reporter noted, the judge ruled that Bananas had been too tardy with his claims. Yes, having waited a full 14 months after the episode in question aired, Bananas had missed the one-year statute of limitations window. To add insult to injury, Billings also stated that even if Bananas had been a little quicker off the mark, she’d still have ruled in HBO’s favor.
When asked why he’d gone to such drastic measures by HuffPost, Bananas explained, “It’s a situation where I’ve spent six years of my life creating a brand, and becoming a public figure being known by that name. So then for a show like ‘Entourage’ to come along, who basically appeals to the same viewing audience as my show does, and turn my character into a cartoon monkey, that just didn’t sit right with me.”
Source: Nicki Swift
