The woman who Jennifer Lopez portrayed in the movies Hustlers is coming for her pockets. Samantha Barbash claims the production company, Nuyorican Productions, used her likeliness for their story without her permission.
Barbash expressed her disapproval of the film in September during a brief conversation with TMZ. She says she wasn’t impressed by the deal the production company offered her so she decided to pass on their offer.
“They pretty much basically stole my story,” Barbash said. “I wouldn’t sign my rights away… I wasn’t giving up my TV and film rights for peanuts. J. Lo doesn’t work for free. Why would I? I’m a businesswoman.”
Barbash’s lawsuit also states that the film portrayed her in a negative light claiming she was “using and manufacturing illegal substances in her home where she lived with her child.”
Barbash is looking for a total of $40 million, half in compensatory damages and the other half in punitive damages. Additionally, she wants Jennifer Lopez’s production company to turn over all copies of the movie.
