Adrianus van Wesenbeck demands the defamation platform, copyright violation, intentionally inflict emotional anguish and violation of advertising right.
Netflix is being sued by former Dutch drug baron Adrianus van Wesenbeck By defamation, copyright violation, intentionally inflict emotional anguish and violation of the right of advertising on series Undercover and Ferrythat, according to him, are illegally based on his life.
A Federal Demand filed on Tuesday against the Florida streaming service states that the two dramatic franchises on organized crime (composed of three seasons of Undercover and two Ferry films and series) represent characters inspired by it as brutal serial murderers and traffickers of people, inaccurate representations that, according to him, have “inflicted significant emotional and financial damage”.
Who Adrianus van Wesenbeeck
Van Wesenbeeck (also known by his first name, Janus) was never accused of murder or trafficking in persons, but is internationally known as an important drug trafficker. He was condemned and imprisoned with early freedom in Belgium between 2011 and 2015 for drug trafficking, participation in a criminal organization and money laundering.
While the demand admits that Netflix has never explicitly supported these projects as free adaptations of Van Wesenbeeck, the actors who interpret these papers have confirmed to the press that they are, and the projects have been widely reported as such.
“This deliberate and misleading presentation has caused significant damage to blur the line between fiction and reality and falsely associate the plaintiff with the character of Ferry Bouman,” reads the demand on “ferry.”
The demand also states that “Ferry 2” used material with the copyright of the book “Drugsbaron” by Van Wesenbeck and that a promotional song of the film “refers to Mr. Van Wesenbeeck and already his late wife, Lydia, in a degrading and mocking way.”
Van Wesenbeck claims compensation for real damage exceeding 26 million dollars, compensatory compensation exceeding 50 million dollars and punitive compensation exceeding 50 million dollars. It also requests the recovery of the profits of the Ferry and Undercover franchise, estimated at more than 166 million dollars. In addition, the lawsuit requests precautionary measures, the payment of lawyer fees and any other available legal appeal.
What are Ferry and Undercover
The Ferry franchise follows the protagonist, Ferry Bouman, who, throughout two films and a series, has been freely inspired by Van Wesenbeeck. Not all the stories that Bouman met during the five years of the franchise were based directly on Van Wesenbeeck’s own experiences. The most recent film, “Ferry 2”, premiered on December 20 of last year.
Undercover premiered in 2019, the second season premiered in November 2020 and the third season in November 2021.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
