Leonardo DiCaprio will have to testify in that Wolf Of Wall Street defamation suit
In a legal move that is clearly all about proper jurisprudence—and has nothing to do with any particular person’s need to snag a cool celebrity selfie during a recess in their chambers—a New York judge has ordered Leonardo DiCaprio to testify in a defamation trial centered on his 2013 film The Wolf Of Wall Street. DiCaprio will take the stand in Andrew Greene’s case against the movie’s producers, presumably so that he can legally aver that he is, in fact, very handsome, and that The Aviator really is an underrated film.
Greene’s case alleges that the character of Nicky “Rugrat” Koskoff—a weaselly, morally bankrupt stock broker played by actor P.J. Byrne in the film—is obviously based on himself. He’s seeking $15 million in damages (some of which, hopefully, will be spent on therapy for his low self-esteem). Lawyers for the defense have previously refuted the claim, stating that the composite character was more strongly based on another jerk with a bad toupee who was a key member of Jordan Belfort’s Stratton Oakmont, which sounds like it was a pretty fun place to work if you were a raging asshole with terrible hair. (A fact that Martin Scorsese’s film spends 179 minutes proving in full.)
It’s not clear what Greene’s legal team hopes to get out of having DiCaprio testify, since he didn’t write the script or direct the movie. (For the record, he was a producer on the film). Both Scorsese and screenwriter Terence Winter have already taken the stand, so it’s possible that Greene’s lawyers are just going for the classic “Look at all the famous people you folks on the jury got to meet, can’t you cut us a break?” line of legal attack.