It’s the middle of the week and LGA’s first Rubbish Report is here to brighten up your day.
News this week came with an odd debacle between one actor from The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and the hugely successful Fortnite by Epic Games. The ex-star for the 90’s television show, Alfonso Ribeiro, is suing Epic for the use of his dance most famously known as “The Carlton.”
Epic first issued their version of the Carlton almost a year ago on January 2, 2018, and it since has been in and out of the item’s shop, selling for 800 V-Bucks. The official site for Fortnite skins does credit the dance to its original source and even gives a bit of historical background as well as a break down of the inspiration that Alfonso used.
Following in this suit is 2 Milly for his “Milly Rock”, and Russell Horning for the “Floss.”
I find the Floss in this list to be interesting considering Fortnite has only benefitted young Horning’s YouTube channel and has given him some fame outside of YouTube. His official music video featuring him flossin’ sits at 3 million views today, and earlier this year he was featured in a skit on SNL.
What’s even more hilarious is that in June of this year, Russell competed in Fornite Pro Am where it looks like he was showered in attention, affection, and glory for being TheBackpackKid.
Interestingly enough all three lawsuit cases are being represented by the same firm at Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht.
I personally don’t think that dances can be copyrighted, and I hate that this is crawling out of the woodwork. “The Carlton” has been around for so long that Fortnite isn’t truly the first to have used it as a pop culture reference. Obviously, there are different opinions from mine and I would love to hear all of them!
What are your opinions on this bit of gossip? Be sure leave a comment if you liked this week’s Rubbish Report.