Entertainment > Snoop Dogg Sues Car Dealership Over Ads
Snoop Dogg Seeks $2 Million From Car Dealership He Accuses of Misappropriating His Image
Rapper Snoop Dogg performs during the Amsterjam music festival on New York's Randall's Island on Aug. 20, 2005. He is seeking $2 million from a car dealership that he accuses of having misappropriated his image and speech pattern in its advertisements. In
Snoop Dogg is seeking $2 million from a car dealership that he accuses of having misappropriated his image and speech pattern in its advertisements.
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court, the 33-year-old rapper, born Calvin Broadus, alleges that the Gary Barbera Enterprises ads constitute trademark infringement since they use verbiage that is "confusingly similar to the Snoop Dogg trademark."
The ads show Snoop next to the words "Is Bar-BIZZLE The SH-izzle?" One ad is similar to his line in a recent Chrysler TV commercial with Lee Iacocca: "If the ride is more fly, then you must buy."
Rapper 50 Cent Curtis Jackson III has filed a similar lawsuit against Barbera seeking $1 million in damages.
The Philadelphia Daily News quoted Barbera marketing director Eric Gerstein as terming the latest lawsuit "the same lyrics, different beat. We've already been in contact with Snoop's people, and we're working it out."
