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'Fresh Prince' star Alfonso Ribeiro suing 'Fortnite' makers for stealing 'Carlton dance'

Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star Alfonso Ribeiro (Credit: PA)
Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star Alfonso Ribeiro (Credit: PA)

Alfonso Ribeiro is suing the makers of the video game Fortnite for its unauthorised use of his ‘Carlton dance’ from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

The 47-year-old actor says that the dance, which players can perform on the game’s battlefield and was made famous by him on the TV show, is being used without his permission.

“It is widely recognized that Mr. Ribeiro’s likeness and intellectual property have been misappropriated by Epic Games in the most popular video game currently in the world, Fortnite,” Ribeiro’s lawyer David L. Hecht said in a statement to People.

“Epic has earned record profits off of downloadable content in the game, including emotes like ‘Fresh.’

“Yet Epic has failed to compensate or even ask permission from Mr. Ribeiro for the use of his likeness and iconic intellectual property.

“Therefore, Mr. Ribeiro is seeking his fair and reasonable share of profits Epic has earned by use of his iconic intellectual property in Fortnite and as a result is requesting through the courts that Epic cease all use of Mr. Ribeiro’s signature dance.”

He’s also suing the makers of basketball game NBA 2K for also using his dance in its game too.

Epic Games is yet to comment on Ribeiro’s claim, but he’s not the first to accuse the game’s maker’s of lifting their intellectual property.

Earlier this month rapper 2 Milly filed a similar suit for the games use of his ‘Milly Rock’ dance, which is also represented in the game.

Since it launched in 2017, up to 80 million people every month play the game online around the world.

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