Academy Awards winner Leonardo DiCaprio may be summoned to testify against the production company behind The Wolf of Wall Street in a defamation lawsuit.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the 41-year-old actor could be summoned to testify in a case filed by Andrew Greene, a former executive at the stock brokerage firm Stratton Oakmont, against Paramount Pictures and other producers of the movie in 2014, U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven Locke ruled on Thursday, June 16.
The lawyer and investment banker is seeking $25 million in damages as the movie wrongfully depicted him as a "criminal, drug user and a degenerate" through the character Nicky "Rugrat" Koskoff, the complaint said. According to Greene, the damage to his character made his fiancée leave him.
In the movie, Koskoff was close friends with Jordan Belfort, a notorious swindler played by DiCaprio.
Greene is also filing a case against Red Granite Pictures, Sikelia Productions, and DiCaprio-owned Appian Way Productions over his depiction as Koskoff.
However, Paramount has insisted that Koskoff is a fictional character. "No reasonable fact finer could claim that 'Nicky' was a recognizable likeness of Andrew Greene," the company's lawyers wrote.
Meanwhile, DiCaprio's team has opposed the deposition request, asserting that the actor should not be dragged into the issue as he was not involved in writing the screenplay and the character of other actors. In addition, DiCaprio's lawyers also noted Greene did not accuse the actor of providing defamatory content and did not depose the actor P. J. Byrne, who portrayed Koskoff in the movie.
In response, Greene's legal team claims that DiCaprio was a co-producer of the movie and was, therefore, aware of the relevant issues in the case. The actor is alleged to have met up with the production team during the development of the script as well as scenes and revisions, CNN reported.
Arguments that DiCaprio's testimony would only be coercion and harassment were overruled during the June 16 hearing, Yibada reported.
So far, Greene's lawyers have said they are pleased "with the testimony coming forward from all kinds of witnesses... in depositions.". The judge granted Greene the motion to compel the deposition of DiCaprio.
