Image: Rockstar Games
The infamous ‘Florida Joker’ parodied in GTA 6’s reveal trailer now wants compensation from Rockstar Games.
Rockstar Games’ reveal trailer for Grand Theft Auto 6 packed a ton of real-life parodies into its one-and-a-half minute runtime, all to paint a picture of Miami-inspired Vice City's whacky inhabitants. The infamous ‘Florida Joker’, whose police arrest made headlines due to his likeness to Suicide Squad’s Joker in 2017, was one of the many people parodied in this trailer - but he’s not happy about it one bit.
Lawrence Sullivan AKA ‘Florida Joker’ recently posted on social media to protest Rockstar’s usage of his likeness without his permission, demanding $1 to $2 million in compensation.
Florida Joker protests appearance in GTA 6 trailer
Florida’s citizens tend to go viral for the strangest of reasons online, to the point that netizens have dubbed them ‘Florida Men’ collectively. Lawrence Sullivan became part of that phenomenon after his mugshot went viral in 2017, when social media users noticed that his face tattoos made him look like Florida’s version of Joker from Suicide Squad. Note: that’s Joker from Suicide Squad (2016), not The Suicide Squad (2021), the latter of which is actually brilliant.
Sullivan’s Florida Joker meme was one of many uniquely American viral moments that Rockstar parodied in GTA 6’s reveal trailer. Sullivan himself posted a recent TikTok to address the trailer, saying that anyone who doesn’t spot the resemblance is, “out your goddamn nuggets." That’s fair - the likeness is uncanny!
However, Sullivan has a big ask to make of Rockstar for using his likeness in the trailer. “GTA, we got to talk, “ he says. “Or not, you got to give me like a mil or two. Florida Joker ain’t having that. Y'all took my likeness. Y'all took my life." The similarities between him and DC Comics’ Joker aren’t a coincidence, either. Sullivan compared Joker to a ‘rose’ whose tattoos he draws inspiration from following another arrest in 2018. “That old Lawrence you saw with the plain face, he's dead. This is the new Lawrence-Joker."
Lawrence-Joker now demands compensation for Rockstar’s supposed usage of his likeness in the GTA 6 trailer, though Rockstar has not issued any response to his statement yet. There is a chance that the trailer’s tattooed man winds up being a side character in the main story, and if that’s the case, you can bet that Lawrence-Joker will have something to say about it.
Rockstar should be used to likeness claims like these by now. GTA 5’s release saw Hollywood actor Lindsay Lohan accuse the company of using her likeness in the game without her permission, though her attempted lawsuit was thrown out of court later in 2018. The court judged that the in-game character was a “generic young woman.” Lawrence-Joker has not filed any such lawsuit against Rockstar.