The real Cocaine Godmother’s family are suing Sofia Vergara and Netflix over new show

The family of the Cocaine Godmother tried to stop Netflix and Sofia Vergara from dropping their new miniseries based on their mother, Griselda, via a lawsuit.

Netflix used the life and times of the infamous Colombian drug lord Griselda Blanco as the inspiration for one of its latest offerings. Some could say her story is prime pickings for drama as she is said to have run one of the world’s most lucrative drug cartels in the world. However, her estate – which is being represented by her four adult sons – had a bone to pick with Netflix and Sofia, the show’s star and executive producer.

In a court filing first reported by TMZ, they claim that they were already working on a project of their own, which began in 2009, years before Griselda died aged 69 in 2012. According to the documents, her son Michael even wrote an unpublished book, ‘My Mother, the Godmother and The True Story of Michael Corleone Blanco, the Son of Griselda Blanco’. On top of this unread literary achievement, he also claims he had been doing interviews until 2022. In 2016, those leading the project suggested shopping it around the industry in 2016.

The lawsuit also details how Netflix was open to them about how keen they were to tell Griselda’s story, but they were less bothered about his archive. After Netflix rejected using his interviews, Michael alleges that the show – which is now available to stream on Netflix – uses his anecdotes regardless, without the appropriate financial compensation.

Basically, Griselda Blanco’s family claims in its lawsuit that Sofia and Netflix ripped off their family’s story, added to their show using their work, and encroached on their right to privacy by using their images and likenesses. The family sought an unsuccessful court injunction to block it from coming to Netflix.

Judging by the court documents, the family doesn’t appear to be all that bothered about what Netflix did to their mum. After all, Griselda Blanco was a public figure, and they acknowledge this. Griselda ‘Cocaine Godmother’ Blanco has become something of a pop culture phenomenon like El Chappo and other drug dons. Her name has been dropped in songs by rappers such as Nicki Minaj and Drake. Among other references, Catherine Zeta-Jones has already played her in the 2018 Lifetime series Cocaine Godmother.

In a statement to Entertainment Tonight, Griselda’s family said: “We look forward to having the Court promptly address our client’s concerns. We should have more information next week as the case proceeds.”

Whether the lawsuit will progress now that Grisdela debuted on Netflix is unknown. Many news outlets reached out to Netflix and Sofia for a response but received no reply. Sofia has previously labelled Grisdela as a “complex person” and said that “there are so many nuances to explore” while making the Netflix show.

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Photo credit via Griselda/Netflix