Sacha Baron Cohen and the weed company he was suing agree to dismiss filing

Image

No settlement was announced, but actor and activist Sacha Baron Cohen reportedly will not move forward with his lawsuit against a cannabis dispensary that used an image and catchphrase of his Borat character in a billboard ad without permission.

According to The Associated Press, a document filed in Federal Court in Boston notes that both Baron Cohen, 50, and the Massachusetts cannabis company, Solar Therapeutics Inc., have agreed to dismiss the case.

WPRI reports that the suit was dismissed with prejudice.

Information from Cornell Law School explains that dismissal with prejudice means “the plaintiff cannot refile the same claim again in that court.” This type of dismissal is considered an “adjudication on the merits” and, as such, the court “made a determination on the legal and factual issues of the claim.”

What did the billboard depict?

The billboard at issue, which was displayed on an interstate highway in Massachusetts, depicted the Borat character, a fictional Kazakh journalist, offering two thumbs-up and exclaiming “It’s nice” alongside the company name and Happy 4-20! message.

Although Solar Therapeutics removed the ad three days after being sent a cease-and-desist letter in April 2021, it declined to compensate Baron Cohen for any exploitation of his image and the Borat character.

Last summer, Baron Cohen and his California-based company Please You Can Touch LLC responded by filing an $11.5 million suit against Solar Therapeutics and its CEO. It was argued the ad falsely implied the comedian, producer and social activist endorses the company’s products and business.

Solar’s cannabis dispensary in Somerset, Mass. features a suite of sustainably cultivated cannabis flower, as well as its line of non-solvent concentrates, CO2-derived extracts and vegan edibles.

Lawsuit cited copyright infringement and false advertising

The unlicensed use of Baron Cohen’s image, and the implied endorsement and affiliation with the company, is false, the lawsuit states. The ad represents wilful copyright infringement, false advertising and violation of the Massachusetts statute against misappropriation of rights of publicity, it added.

Attorney David Condon wrote in the lawsuit that Baron Cohen “never has used cannabis in his life,” because “he does not believe it’s a healthy choice.” Furthermore, Condon added, Baron Cohen “never would participate in an advertising campaign for cannabis, for any amount of money” as he feels it would compromise his credibility as an actor and a social activist.

Borat character retired because getting too “dangerous”

Cohen won a best actor Golden Globe for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, which was released in 2020, and the picture took top prize for best musical or comedy.

Last year, though, Baron Cohen told Entertainment Tonight that he was retiring Borat and was done with disguise movies.

Asked why, he noted things were getting too dangerous.

“For Borat, there were a couple of times I had to put on a bulletproof vest to go and shoot a scene, and you don’t want to do that too many times in your life. I was pretty lucky to get out this time, so no, I’m not doing it again. I’m going to stay with the scripted stuff.”

Other celebrities whose names and images have been used in fake endorsements for real or scam products in the past include David Attenborough, Clint Eastwood, Mary Berry, and Tom Hanks.

Region: Massachusetts

Disqus content widget