Dat’s my baby! New Orleans mascot creator sues filmmaker over image
Posted On: Feb. 13, 2019 9:48 AM CST
Dat’s my baby!
So claimed the creator of King Cake Baby, the former New Orleans baseball team Babycakes mascot, when he watched “Happy Death Day,” a film featuring a mask of a baby that — eerily — resembles the plastic-faced, bug-eyed cherub with missing teeth.
And now artist Jonathon Bertuccelli is suing the filmmaker, claiming no one involved in the movie ever asked for permission to use his baby’s likeness, TMZ Sports reported Tuesday.
“A side-by-side comparison of KCB and Happy Death Day mask clearly shows that the visual attributes and aspects which have made KCB a celebrity mascot were copied and so substantially similar that the two are seen to be the same,” states the lawsuit, accessed by TMZ Sports.
Mr. Bertuccelli, who claims the movie has made more than $200 million in revenue, now wants at least 50% of the profits and for movie producers to stop using the mask, which was also featured in the sequel “Happy Death Day 2U,” according to the news site.