Actor Frank Sivero has filed a $250 million lawsuit claiming a mob stooge on the TV show The Simpsons is a ripoff of his iconic character from Goodfellas.
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Sivero says he used to live in the same apartment complex as some Simpsons writers, and that the show was therefore "highly aware" he was developing the character Frankie Carbone for Goodfellas. One year after the film's release, The Simpsons debuted a mafia lackey, Louie, whose "appearance and mannerisms are strongly evocative" of Sivero's character, the suit states.
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