New York judge has ordered Leonardo DiCaprio to take the stand and testify in a defamation lawsuit centered his 2013 film The Wolf Of Wall Street, filed by Jordan Belfort, the original Wolf of Wall Street.
The film tells the true story of Belfort at his firm Stratton Oakmont from 1993 to 1996, a swindler who cost investors tens of millions of dollars.
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However, DiCaprio will testify in Andrew Greene’s case. Greene, a childhood friend and ex-colleague of Belfort, is convinced that the weaselly stock broker, Nicky “Rugrat” Koskoff, played by actor P.J. Byrne, is based on himself. He’s seeking more than $50 million in damages.
Lawyers for the defense have previously claimed that the morally bankrupt character was more strongly based on another bad reputation broker who was a key member of Jordan Belfort’s Stratton Oakmont.
“The motion picture’s scenes concerning Mr Greene were false, defamatory, and fundamentally injurious to Mr Greene’s professional reputation, both as an attorney and as an investment banker/venture capitalist, as well as his personal reputation, ” the suit says.
“No reasonable fact finder could claim that ‘Nicky’ was a recognizable likeness of Andrew Greene, ” Paramount’s lawyers wrote in court papers.
While DiCaprio has been “too busy” to come to court, defendants have stated that the testimonies of director Martin Scorsese and screenwriter Terence Winter should suffice. They said Greene’s lawsuit did not allege that DiCaprio provided defamatory content for the film or helped decide whether to include defamatory content. But DiCaprio’s company was involved as a producer and it has led to judge Steven Locke requiring him to testify “at a reasonable time and place agreed to by the parties”.
READ MORE: The Wolf of Wall Street
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Andrew Greene who claims he was defamed by his depiction in “The Wolf of Wall Street, ” can proceed with his lawsuit against the makers of the film, a federal judge has ruled, according to a first More…
