Sofia Vergara, Netflix Sued By Drug Lord's Family To Stop Release Of 'Griselda' Series

Last week, “Modern Family” star Sofia Vergara, who has been making the rounds to promote her leading role in the upcoming Netflix NFLX miniseries, “Griselda,” sat for an interview with Jimmy Fallon on “The Tonight Show.”

The six-part series is about the late Colombian drug lord Griselda Blanco, who was known as the "Cocaine Godmother" for her role as a key figure in the 1980s establishment of the cocaine trade between Colombia, Miami and New York.

Vergara, who is a native of Colombia, told Fallon that series director André Baiz helped her portray the woman whom many regarded as the female counterpart to the infamous Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar.

“I didn’t know anything. [André Baiz] taught me how to smoke. He taught me how to do cocaine. He taught me a lot,” Vergara said before Fallon interrupted her, “Alright, hold on, hold on.”

Vergara cleared up the confusion and told the amused audience that no cocaine was consumed on or off the film set.

And Then Came The Lawsuit

Griselda Blanco's adult children are accusing both Vergara and Netflix of using the family's image and likeness without their permission.

Blanco’s son, Michael Corleone Blanco, filed a lawsuit Wednesday in Florida’s Miami-Dade County court.

In the suit, Michael Blanco says the show’s creators used his “private artistic literary work” without permission or credit, according to TMZ, which first reported the news. He reportedly had been shopping around his and his mother's life stories since 2009 in the hopes of developing them into a movie.

Michael Blanco said he'd shared stories about his mother over the years in public interviews and was told the Netflix series would not use any of his anecdotes. He later learned that the upcoming series about his family relies heavily on them.

The Blanco children are seeking a court injunction to stop the show's release, which is scheduled for Jan. 25.

A statement from the Blanco family provided to Business Insider by their lawyer said that Michael Blanco was “more than willing to share his hard work and the nonpublic details of his mother’s life with Latin World Entertainment/Netflix if he was to be fairly compensated.”

“Make no mistake,” the statement said. “Michael Blanco is humble and thrilled each and every time someone reaches out to shine a light on his mother and the Blanco family.”

Photo: El Planteo