NETFLIX is being sued over its new movie The Laundromat, which stars Meryl Streep, Antonio Banderas, Gary Oldman and Sharon Stone.
The film tells the story of the Panama Papers scandal, and now the two men involved in it have slapped the streaming giant with a lawsuit.
Jurgen Mossack and Roman Fonseca were behind now-defunct Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca & Co.
In 2016, a leak meant 11.5million of the firm's confidential files were made public.
The film is inspired by these events and sees Oldman and Banderas play Mossack and Fonseca.
Meanwhile Streep plays a woman named Ellen Martin who is investigating the death of her husband in a boat tour.
She soon learns he had connections to Mossack and Fonseca's law firm.
But the real-life Mossack and Fonseca claim that the film defames them and also infringes on their trademark by using the firm's logo.
According to their suit, which was filed on Tuesday, they claim they have been falsely portayed as "villains profiting from the death of 20 people killed in the small town boat tour."
They have also demanded a restraining order to block the film's release on Netflix, but it is currently streaming on the site worldwide.
Netflix, on their part, have tried to shut down the suit.
They claim the reputations of those involved in the Panama Papers scandal were "sullied long before the release of [The Laundromat]."
Netflix also insist the film, which is advertised as being "based on some real s**t" is a "comedic morality tale" rather than a true story.
Netflix also claim their versions of Mossack and Fonseca may share the names of the real people involved but are "palpably farcical characters."
David Schwimmer also has a role in the movie, while Oscar-winning directer Steven Soderbergh was at the helm.
Source: Read Full Article