Music

Cypress Hill member suing video game for $250 million

by Ciaran Thompson

Stories involving musicians suing video games never seems to get boring for us, which is why we tend to write about them. Granted, most of the time they involve a washed-up vocalist of previously one of the meanest hard rock bands in music history, however we still get a kick out of it when a relative newcomer enters the fray.

For example, it’s recently come to light that Michael “Shagg” Washington, a backup singer from the rap group Cypress Hill, is suing Rockstar Games, the company who own the Grand Theft Auto video game series, because the lead character in their game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas bears a striking resemblance to him looks-wise and even has the back story to match.

Washington is suing for 25% of the game’s total revenue, which translates to $250 million. According to the lawsuit, the backup singer met with the game’s developers and answered a bunch of questions about his life. He claims the developers promised to notify him if he was to be used in the game. Washington found out about after her nephew told him about the resemblance.

Techdirt reports that Washington is seeking damages for “fraud, misappropriation of likeness and infringement.” Secretly he may also be seeking to become the richest backup singer in history.