Alfonso Ribeiro is suing Fortnite for stealing the Carlton dance from ‘Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’.
Ribeiro starred as Carlton Banks in the long-running 90s TV series. His character was known for breaking into dance, often to sound of the Tom Jones classic ‘It’s Not Unusual’.
The actor filed the lawsuit against Epic Games after players could purchase an ’emote’ or a dance called ‘Fresh’, which characters can perform as a celebration within the game. You can watch the two dances alongside in the video below.
Alfonso’s attorney David Hecht spoke to TMZ, saying: “It is widely recognized that Mr. Ribeiro’s likeness and intellectual property have been misappropriated by Epic Games in the most popular video game currently in the world, Fortnite.”
Epic has earned record profits off of downloadable content in the game, including emotes like “Fresh.” Yet Epic has failed to compensate or even ask permission from Mr. Ribeiro for the use of his likeness and iconic intellectual property.”
TMZ claims that the actor has also filed a similar lawsuit against 2K Games who make NBA 2K.
Last week, New York rapper 2 Milly sued Fortnite creator Epic Games for allegedly profiting from a dance that he created.
The ‘Milly Rock’ dance, as seen in the artist’s 2014 video of the same name, has been used without authorisation in the online video game, 2 Milly claims.
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Fortnite has come under fire in recent months for the apparent appropriation of various dances as purchasable player emotes. Examples include BlocBoy JB’s ‘shoot’ dance and the moves from Snoop Dogg’s ‘Drop It Like It’s Hot’.