Update: HBO Wins Johnny Bananas' "Entourage" Lawsuit

[JamesG]

MTV's Johnny Bananas Sues HBO, "Entourage" Over "Johnny's Bananas"
by Alex Moaba
posted Aug 3rd 2011


Johnny 'Bananas' Devenanzio, a veteran of MTV's "Real World: Key West" who's currently participating in "The Challenge: Rivals", is accusing HBO's "Entourage" of some serious monkey business.

He's reportedly sent the network a cease & desist notice, and is threatening to sue for copyright infringement over the name of Johnny Drama's gorilla cartoon show "Johnny's Bananas", a central plotline on the new season of "Entourage".





Devenanzio has hired attorney Stephanie Ovadia, the lawyer who represented Lindsay Lohan in her suit against the E-Trade for a commercial that she claimed used her likeness.



In a series of tweets, Devenanzio, whose Twitter handle is @MTVBananas, explained why he's taking legal action.

"I along with my attorney Stephanie Ovadia have taken legal action against HBO\Time Warner, and Entourage for Trademark Infringement. We believe HBO and the series Entourage, in particular, the cartoon ape they seemed to create out of thin air, who just so happens to go by the name Johnny Bananas, is in no way coincidental, and is instead an attempt to capitalize on the name recognition which I'm solely responsible for creating.

I intend to fight vigorously in defense of the years of hard work and dedication I've spent making Johnny Bananas a household name, and the purpose of this lawsuit is aimed at protecting the integrity of my brand."



He later told TMZ: "My identity's been stolen ... I'll be damned if some half-assed ape's gonna come steal my identity that I've been acting like a jerk-off on television the last 5 years creating a brand for myself."

http://www.aoltv.com/2011/08/03/john...hnnys-bananas/

[Zoneboy]

Household name?

Originally Posted by Johnny Bananas

I intend to fight vigorously in defense of the years of hard work and dedication I've spent making Johnny Bananas a household name, and the purpose of this lawsuit is aimed at protecting the integrity of my brand.

[JamesG]

MTV Star Sues HBO Over 'Johnny Bananas' in "Entourage"
10/5/2011
by Eriq Gardner


Reality star John Devenanzio, who says he is popularly known in the entertainment world as "Johnny Bananas," has gone ahead with threats and sued the producers of the recently completed HBO series, "Entourage".

The plaintiff is demanding that the network be permanently barred from distributing episodes containing "Johnny Bananas," which would wipe out the seventh and last season of the show.

This past summer, Devenanzio, who appeared as a cast member on MTV's "The Real World: Key West" and several other MTV reality shows, had his lawyer fire off a cease-and-desist letter to HBO.





The threats apparently did nothing to scare the network.

So, on Monday, Devenanzio filed a complaint in New York Superior Court against HBO, parent Time Warner, and "Entourage" creator Doug Ellin.

The lawsuit charges the defendants with featuring an "unwarranted, unauthorized, and unfavorable mention of plaintiff's name and personality, and allusions to plaintiff's physical and mental character."





Devenanzio's legal claims are remarkably vague. It appears that Devenanzio is not asserting any allegation of trademark infringement, but rather accusing HBO of violating his publicity and privacy rights, defaming him, and causing emotional distress.

According to the complaint, Devenanzio "has undergone tremendous emotional distress that has been intentionally inflicted upon plaintiff by defendants' unwarranted, unauthorized, and unjustified use of plaintiff's name and characterization in an offensive and disparaging manner in named 'Entourage'."





For his part, Kevin Dillon, who had the character-playing-character role of "Johnny Bananas" in "Entourage", told reporters in August that neither he nor Ellin "knew anything about [Devenanzio]" when the character was created, saying the potential lawsuit was a "bummer," partly because there was discussions of a real "Johnny Bananas" spin-off.

Regardless of the merits of the claim, those plans are probably off now, as Devenanzio not only seeks an injunction but also compensatory and punitive damages.

It's highly unlikely that Devenanzio will achieve an injunction, and his success in the lawsuit may depend on whether he can find anything in discovery that shows Ellin and his writers had Devenanzio in mind when they created the "Johnny Bananas" character.

Even then, a judge could find the use of name to be protected free speech.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr...-johnny-244446

[JamesG]

HBO Wins Lawsuit Over 'Johnny Bananas' Character in "Entourage" (Exclusive)
5/16/2012
by Eriq Gardner


A New York judge has dismissed claims brought by MTV reality star John Devenanzio, who alleged in a lawsuit last year that HBO's "Entourage" damaged his name and personality and caused him emotional distress by featuring a character named "Johnny Bananas."

The "Entourage" character was played by Kevin Dillon in a show-within-a-show, and Devenanzio, who appeared as a cast member on "The Real World: Key West" and won the most recent season of MTV's "The Challenge", said he was already known in the entertainment world as Johnny Bananas.

But New York Superior Court Judge Lucy Billings has ruled that Devenanzio filed his claims too late.





In the lawsuit, Devenanzio charged HBO, parent Time Warner and "Entourage" creator Doug Ellin with featuring an "unwarranted, unauthorized and unfavorable mention of plaintiff's name and personality and allusions to plaintiff's physical and mental character."

HBO responded by saying that Devenanzio had a "fundamental misunderstanding of the law governing publicity and privacy rights."

The network asserted that nicknames are not protected under New York law, that the plaintiff had failed to establish a connection between his identity and what he saw on the show and that the plaintiff's lawsuit failed because the nickname wasn't used in advertising and thus didn't meet the "commercial" bar for such a claim.





Ultimately, though, Billings gave HBO a victory on a less sexy technicality.

The episodes in question started airing on Aug. 15, 2010, and Devenanzio didn't bring the claim until Oct. 3, 2011. The one-year statute of limitations window had closed, so the judge finds the lawsuit to be less "Johnny Bananas" and more "Johnny Rotten."

The judge also adds, "In any event, the telecast, even if repeated, does not constitute atrocious, indecent or utterly despicable conduct meeting the requirements for an intentional emotional distress claim."





Devenanzio was represented in this action by Stephanie Ovadia, who has also represented Lindsay Lohan in publicity rights claims and has been accused of making strange court filings.

HBO was represented by attorneys at Levine Sullivan Koch & Schulz.



Johnny Bananas was the character and title of an animation series in "Entourage" that featured apes and monkeys. At one point, there were rumors of a spinoff.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr...tourage-325600