The makers of rap biopic 'Straight Outta Compton' have dismissed a $110 million lawsuit filed by the former NWA manager Jerry Heller.
According to Hollywood Reporter, Heller filed a lawsuit in October, claiming the film portrayed him as "sleazy" and greedy, as well as using details without consent from his memoirs.
The lawsuit mentioned a long list of defendants including Ice Cube and Dr. Dre as well as the film's director F. Gary Gray. The lawsuit also named NBC Universal, Eazy-E's estate, Eazy-E's widow, Tomica Woods-Wright, and every individual and company involved in the making of the film.
The defendants are now calling for the suit to be thrown out. According to Inquisitr, NBC Universal and the defendants have already filed a motion to dismiss Heller's claims. The defendants also have filed an anti-SLAPP motion to avoid getting silenced due to the burdens of the legal process.
According to the Guardian, the defendants claim Heller's lawsuit is based on a "hodgepodge of conclusory allegations and subjective interpretations".
The defendants have separately claimed that Straight Outta Compton is based on historic accusations by NWA against Heller. Heller has admitted latter that the accusations were made in his own biography.
The legal rebuttal says the Jerry Heller character in the film is not shown committing any improper or illegal actions, or even admitting that he had ever done anything improper.
The defendants say the film depicts articulated by others about plaintiff, which plaintiff's own memoir concedes had been very publicly leveled against him. "It is impossible to conceive of a serious docudrama exploring this history that would not depict these disputes, and the first amendment protects the right of film-makers to tell this story," the legal rebuttal says.
Heller, who is played by actor Paul Giamatti, is depicted as the source of conflict between NWA members Ice Cube, Eazy-E and Dr. Dre in the film. Heller, who managed NWA throughout the late 80s and early 90s, is seen encouraging Cube to accept a cheque for $75,000 in order to sign a contract without the involvement of a lawyer. He is depicted to regularly side with Eazy-E who fired him towards the end of the movie after the group members agree in principle to reunite.
In the lawsuit filed at the Los Angeles superior court, Heller accused the film falsely portraying him as responsible for the break-up of the NWA. Heller said he didn't withhold a $75,0000 check from Ice Cube, wasn't fired by Eazy-E and many more.
However, the defendants said the characterization of Jerry Heller in the film was merely opinion, and not actionable. The defendants denied malice and presented a public interest defence under Californian law against Heller's lawsuit.
