On February 18, Andrew Greene filed a $25 million defamation lawsuit against the filmmakers of the recent box office hit “The Wolf of Wall Street” and Paramount Pictures. Greene’s filing accuses the defendants of defaming him through their portrayal of the character Nicky “Rugrat” Koskoff, who Greene asserts was modeled after him. Greene’s suit states that “the motion picture contains various scenes wherein Mr. Greene’s character is portrayed as a criminal, drug user, degenerate, depraved and/or devoid of any morality.” Several scenes in the movie show “Rugrat” using cocaine, laundering money and engaging in sexual relations with a prostitute. The “Rugrat” character is also consistently demeaned throughout the film for his fake hairpiece.
The “Wolf of Wall Street” is a fictional depiction of the rise and fall of the now discredited Long Island brokerage firm Stratton Oakmont, and focuses on the firm’s founder Jordan Belfort, played by Leonardo DiCaprio. Terence Winters, the scriptwriter for the film, based the movie off of Belfort’s memoirs. The movie was directed by Martin Scorsese.
Greene used to work in Stratton Oakmont’s corporate finance department, and at one point even sat on the company’s board of directors. His full legal name is mentioned in Belfort’s memoirs on several occasions, though in Belfort’s memoirs Greene’s nickname was “Wigwam” rather than “Rugrat”. The court filing indicated that Greene had been “permanently damaged” by the film’s portrayal of him as a “criminal and drug user with misogynistic tendencies.”
A copy of the lawsuit is available here.
Wolf of Wall Street studio hit with $25m defamation lawsuit
‘Wolf of Wall Street’ Studio Sued by Upset Stratton Oakmont Alum