Famed actor and filmmaker, Clint Eastwood, has won a recent legal battle regarding a CBD retailer using his name and likeness to sell their products without Eastwood’s permission. Eastwood filed two lawsuits in federal court in Los Angeles against three CBD manufacturers and marketers. Their products were featured in advertisements falsely claiming that he endorsed CBD products, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
“$2 million is a reasonable representation of the fair market value of Mr. Eastwood’s services in lending his influential and known name to a hidden metatag campaign for products he likely would have been unwilling to endorse in the first place,” reads the order issuing Eastwood his victory in the suit.
Eastwood has waged numerous legal battles over his career to protect his reputation. The Hollywood veteran along with Garrapata, the company that owns Eastwood’s rights to his likeness outside of movies, sued the CBD companies in 2020 to make it clear that he’s never been involved in the cannabis industry.
“Without Mr. Eastwood’s knowledge of permission, online retailers of CBD products strategically place Mr. Eastwood’s name within blog posts and webpage meta descriptions (content that describes and summarizes the contents of a given webpage for the benefit of users and search engines to locate) as a means to promote CBD products and guide customers to an online marketplace that sells CBD products,” reads the complaint.
A Hard-Fought Battle for Clint Eastwood
This ruling is the second in Eastwood’s favor during his battle with the CBD retailers. Previously, he won the first lawsuit targeting an online article featuring a fake interview meant to resemble the Today Show. It included a photo of Mr. Eastwood from an actual appearance on Today as well as links to buy the items.
“Mr. Eastwood has no connection of any kind whatsoever to any CBD products and never gave such an interview,” the court documents said.
“In pursuing this case, and obtaining this judgment, Mr. Eastwood has again demonstrated a willingness to confront wrongdoing and hold accountable those who try to illegally profit off his name, likeness, and goodwill,” said Jordan Susman, a lawyer for Mr. Eastwood, in a statement after the first of his two victories.
The previous ruling granted Eastwood a $6.1 million reward. Altogether the director has won more than $8 million in his pursuit to protect his image.
“We are pleased with the Court’s decision. As it recognizes the substantial harm that false endorsements cause,” said Susman following the most recent judgment in Eastwood’s favor. “It further sends a message to such offenders that they cannot evade liability by ignoring the legal system. This is a judgment we look forward to collecting.”
Eastwood is a veteran of Hollywood with many famous roles to his name. However, he’s only ever agreed to one endorsement deal in his illustrious career. He appeared in a commercial during the 2012 Super Bowl to address the country’s recovery from recession. Eastwood went on record to say he took well below his market value for the appearance because of how strongly he felt about the commercial’s message.
