Summary
Roger Clark, the actor behindRed Dead Redemption 2’s Arthur Morgan, recently commented on the so-called Florida Joker’s demands for money from Rockstar following his parody in theGrand Theft Auto 6trailer. Rockstar finally gave fans their first look at the nextGrand Theft Autogame earlier this month, and the franchise’s trademark satirization of modern American culture seems to be present and accounted for inGTA 6so far. Mere days after the trailer went live, fans started comparing the scenes featured in it with real-life news footage and photos from Florida, whichGrand Theft Auto 6’s fictional state of Leonidais based on.
One of the most striking moments inGrand Theft Auto 6’s trailer was a brief shot of a tattooed criminal being taken to court - especially since it seems to be inspired by a real-life mugshot that went viral in 2017. Lawrence Sullivan gained the nickname of the Florida Joker due to his face tattoos resembling the DC Comics villain and the comparisons between himself and thecriminal shown in theGTA 6reveal trailerweren’t lost on him. Shortly after the trailer was posted, Sullivan posted a video response in which he seemingly demanded money from Rockstar for using his likeness.
Now Roger Clark, who famously played outlaw Arthur Morgan in Rockstar’s critically acclaimedRed Dead Redemption 2, has weighed in on theGrand Theft Auto 6Florida Joker situationwith a TikTok video of his own. In it, Clark wasted little time pointing out that Rockstar’s writers have been parodying famous (and infamous) real-life figures for years, and have enough lawyers and understanding of the law to make any attempt to successfully sue them futile.
Sure enough,Rockstar’s attempts at satirizing celebritiesand other aspects of American culture have drawn the ire of their subjects over the past few decades. Lindsy Lohan once tried to sue the studio for seemingly modeling a character after her inGrand Theft Auto 5, but her case was ultimately dismissed in 2018. Likewise, the real-life Pinkerton detective agency attempted a lawsuit of its own for its portrayal inRed Dead Redemption 2back in 2019.
If I were you, I would use the notoriety that [Rockstar] just threw your way to my advantage. Capitalize on it somehow. You ain’t getting a job at Home Depot with that face.
As many fans have pointed out, the Florida Joker-like character shown in the recentGrand Theft Auto 6trailer isn’t an exact recreation of Lawrence Sullivan’s now-infamous mugshot, so there might be enough deniability to dismiss any legal action taken by him. Still, as Roger Clark has just pointed out, Sullivan now has some notoriety after seemingly being parodied inGrand Theft Auto 6,which is expected to be one of the biggest games of all time when it eventually launches in 2025.
Grand Theft Auto 6
WHERE TO PLAY
Grand Theft Auto VI heads to the state of Leonida, home to the neon-soaked streets of Vice City and beyond in the biggest, most immersive evolution of the Grand Theft Auto series yet.Jason and Lucia have always known the deck is stacked against them. But when an easy score goes wrong, they find themselves on the darkest side of the sunniest place in America, in the middle of a criminal conspiracy stretching across the state of Leonida — forced to rely on each other more than ever if they want to make it out alive.
