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A stockbroker is suing Paramount Pictures for £33million over his alleged portrayal in the movie The Wolf of Wall Street .
Andrew Greene is seeking damages for his close likeness to the wig-wearing movie character Nicky Koskoff, played by P.J. Byrne.
The 53-year-old worked for Jordan Belfort’s infamous Stratton Oakmont brokerage firm which was central to the film.
According to court papers Greene said producers made Koskoff, nicknamed Rugrat in the movie, appear like a “criminal, drug user, degenerate, depraved and devoid of any morals or ethics”.
Greene was on Stratton Oakmont’s board of directors in the 1990s, when investors were fleeced out of millions of dollars in stock schemes.
Like Koskoff he also wore a toupee and had attended law school.
Director Martin Scorsese based the film on Belfort’s book in which Greene is identified by his nickname “Wigwam”.
In the movie, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio , Koskoff is subject to ridicule for his hairpiece.
Greene, who lives in Long Island, was never implicated in any wrongdoing in the criminal investigation in to Stratton Oakmont but the Koskoff character is arrested for money laundering.
Lawyers for makers Paramount Pictures told a federal court in Long Island the case should be dismissed arguing the Koskoff character was made up of many different people in Belfort’s book and could not be mistaken for Greene.
However judge Joanna Seybert disagreed saying the case is one of “libel by fiction”.
To be successful in his claim Greene’s lawyer need to show that people who know him would reasonably associate the Koskoff character with him.
Judge Seybert however dismissed the former broker’s claim for invasion-of-privacy claim because his real name and photo do not appear in the film.
Responding lawyers for Paramount said the film is protected by the First Amendment and the makers did not act with any malice as required in a defamation case.
A date for the case has yet to be set.
