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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Clint Eastwood and the company that owns the rights to his likeness were awarded $6.1 million in a lawsuit against a Lithuanian company that falsely claimed the Academy Award-winning actor-director endorsed its CBD products, according to Los Angeles court papers obtained today.
CBD, short for cannabidiol, is a part of the cannabis plant that does not lead to a high.
U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner granted Eastwood and the company Garrapata $6 million for unauthorized use of the actor's name and likeness after Mediatonas UAB did not respond to a summons, and the company was also told to pay about $95,000 in attorneys' fees, papers filed Friday show.
Attorneys for the 91-year-old filmmaker filed lawsuits last year in Los Angeles federal court against CBD retailer Sera Labs and other companies, seeking millions in damages and a judge's order that the companies give up their profits and permanently stop using Eastwood's name and likeness.
The first complaint alleged the companies produced fake news articles and supposed interviews claiming that Eastwood endorsed their products and that he was quitting films to focus on the CBD business.
The second suit asserted that 10 companies and individuals are using programming code to insert Eastwood's name into online search results for CBD products, tricking consumers into thinking the “Dirty Harry'' star is endorsing them.
“Mr. Eastwood has no connection of any kind whatsoever to any CBD products and never gave such an interview,'' the plaintiff's attorneys wrote in court documents.
The fraudulent “article'' prominently features photographs of Eastwood and references a fabricated interview with the actor in which he “touts his purported line of CBD products,'' attorneys wrote. “Like many of his most famous characters, Mr. Eastwood is not afraid to confront wrongdoing and hold accountable those that try to illegally profit off his name or likeness.''
Eastwood and Garrapata filed a motion for default judgment in May. Sera Labs filed an answer, but Mediatonas did not respond, leading to the default judgment.
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