Clint Eastwood Wins $6.1 Million CBD Lawsuit

Clint Eastwood Wins $6.1 Million CBD Lawsuit

Several news outlets including The New York Times, TMZ, Bizjournals and The Irish Times reported on this story yesterday. My thanks to Davy Turner for passing this on to me.

The Academy Award-winning director accused a Lithuanian company of falsely claiming that he had endorsed CBD products.

Sarah Bahr, The New York Times, Oct 3rd 2021

“Mr. Eastwood has no connection of any kind whatsoever to any CBD products and never gave such an interview,” the court documents said.

The actor Clint Eastwood and Garrapata, the company that owns the rights to his likeness, were awarded $6.1 million on Friday in a lawsuit they had filed against a Lithuanian company that was accused of using Mr. Eastwood’s image and likeness to make it appear as though he was endorsing their products.

Last year, Mr. Eastwood filed two lawsuits in federal court in Los Angeles against three CBD manufacturers and marketers (named as Sera Labs Inc, Greendios and For Our Vets LLC) whose products were featured in an online article falsely claiming that he endorsed CBD products, as well as 10 online retailers who he accused of manipulating search results through meta tags. (CBD is cannabidiol, a nonintoxicating compound in the cannabis sativa plant.)

According to the first lawsuit, the online article contained a fake interview with an outlet meant to resemble the “Today” show. It included a photo of Mr. Eastwood from an actual appearance on “Today,” as well as links to buy the items.

“Mr. Eastwood has no connection of any kind whatsoever to any CBD products and never gave such an interview,” the court documents said.

The judge, R. Gary Klausner of United States District Court for the Central District of California, entered a default judgment after Mediatonas UAB, the company that published a fabricated interview with Mr. Eastwood, failed to respond to a summons in March. Mr. Eastwood and Garrapata were then awarded $6 million based on the company’s unauthorized use of his name and likeness, along with about $95,000 in attorneys’ fees and a permanent injunction that blocks future use of his name and likeness.