“Fresh Prince of Bel Air” star Alfonso Ribeiro is suing the makers of the video game Fortnite for allegedly stealing his “Carlton dance.”
Ribeiro, who played the character Carlton Banks in the 90s sitcom, alleges the “Fresh emote” dance done by characters in Fortnite is a rip off of his famous moves on the show.
In a statement, a lawyer for Ribeiro said his dance is intellectual property that Epic Games stole without asking him.
“Epic has earned record profits off of downloadable content in the game, including emotes like “Fresh,” attorney David Hecht told NBC. “Yet Epic has failed to compensate or even ask permission from Mr. Ribeiro for the use of his likeness and iconic intellectual property.”
Earlier this month, a Brooklyn rapper also sued Epic Games for allegedly stealing a dance that he popularized.
Hip-hop artist 2 Milly claimed Epic games allowed players to purchase a dance called “Swipe It” that resembled his own move called the “Milly Rock Dance.”
In the online battle game, which has over 200 million users, players can pay to download moves that their video charters can then perform in front of other competitors.
In July, Chance the Rapper criticized the game for profiting off of the hip-hop community’s creativity.
“Black creatives created and popularized these dances but never monetized them,” he wrote on Twitter. “Imagine the money people are spending on these Emotes being shared with the artists that made them.”
Source: Page Six