You might have assumed MTV’s Johnny Bananas was joking around when he threatened to sue HBO over the use of the name “Johnny Bananas” but today Johnny Devenanzio filed suit against the network. Mr Devenanzio initially sent a cease and desist letter to HBO last month but of course, Entourage, now in it’s final season, and it’s third season of using the name ‘Johnny Bananas’, declined to comply.
In the show, Johnny Drama is the star of a cartoon character named “Johnny Bananas”, a talking monkey. Apparently MTV’s Johnny Bananas feels a close relation between himself and the animated primate because Johnny claims he “has undergone tremendous emotional distress that has been intentionally inflicted upon plaintiff by defendants’ unwarranted, unauthorized, and unjustified use of plaintiff’s name and characterization in an offensive and disparaging manner in named ‘Entourage’.”
The series has already ended it’s final season so it will probably not affect HBO, Entourage or any possible Entourage film in the future. Devenanzio will most likely sue for previous profits obtained by HBO but most bloggers, legal experts, media observers and human beings in general are saying he has a very weak case and a judge may see this as a simple publicity stunt. We’ll keep you updated.