Trouble in Taradise: Tara Reid is suing Sharknado producers for $100 million
Sharknado, a SyFy project looked on its surface like a nadir in the career of Tara Reid, turned into just the opposite. Since 2013, SyFy has cranked out five more installments, with Reid starring alongside Iain Ziering in all of them. The Last Sharknado wrapped things up in August, but it appears Reid’s arc with the series isn’t over. Variety reports that the performer is suing infamous “mockbuster” studio Asylum for using her likeness on beer cans and slot machines without her consent.
As her suit outlines, Reid’s contract forbid producers from using her likeness on products related to gambling, alcohol, tobacco, or sex without her written permission. That agreement was violated when the Asylum decided to collaborate on a Sharknado beer with U.K. beer manufacturer Northern Monk Brewing Co. Apparently, the Asylum was also planning to put Reid’s face on slot machines and video gambling devices. Reid “did not and would not endorse such products,” the suit states.
She’s seeking a whopping $100 million from the company, an amount that even the lawyers acknowledge is insane. The insanity is the point, though, as the suit states that it’s “an amount sufficiently large to set a public example of deterrence.”
Hey, at least she didn’t leap at them with a chainsaw.