Say what you like about Lawrence Sullivan, also known as the Florida Joker, but you have to admire his tenacity. After calling Rockstar out for a character in the Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer who bore a resemblance to his own viral mugshot and demanding “a mil or two” in recompense, he’s now upped the stakes even more, dying his hair purple and donning a prison jumpsuit in order to highlight the similarity between himself and Rockstar’s character and demanding an “extra million dollars” too.
In a post to TikTok, Sullivan recorded himself—purple-haired and jumpsuited—standing in front of a YouTube search results page for “GTA 6 Joker,” with the results consisting entirely of videos about his campaign against Rockstar. Addressing the camera, Sullivan declares that he’s giving GTA “the biggest free marketing you got in the entire history of running this GTA game, for that I want an extra million dollars.” You can find the full video below.
♬ original sound – Lawrence Sullivan
“Y’all are taking forever to respond back to me,” Sullivan tells Rockstar, before shifting focus to a YouTube thumbnail featuring both Sullivan’s real-life (and pre-hair-dye) heavily tattooed face and the character who featured in the GTA 6 trailer. “You see that? Find another character. Find another person in Florida they portrayed that character from, and I’ll wait! I will wait! GTA, we gotta talk!”
Now, while I think Sullivan is probably correct that Rockstar drew inspiration from his mugshot for the character that appeared in the GTA 6 trailer, I also think his cause is doomed. Nevertheless, Sullivan is still giving the company both barrels. “You think I’m playing? You got three days! Three days! Before my lawyers go crazy on this case!” The video was uploaded two days ago, meaning, I suppose, that Rockstar only has mere hours to reply.
Plenty of the reporting on Sullivan’s campaign has highlighted its similarity to a case waged by Lindsay Lohan, who took Rockstar to court over claims the company had used her likeness in GTA 5 promo material. That case eventually got tossed out, but that doesn’t seem to deter Sullivan. “This is not like the Lindsay Lohan case. I! Got! Hard! Evidence! Hard evidence!” declares Sullivan, although it’s not entirely clear if he’s referring to anything beyond the YouTube thumbnails behind him.
I suspect, somehow, Rockstar is not particularly intimidated by the Florida Joker’s threats, and if anything regards Sullivan’s crusade as a wonderful and unanticipated bit of additional viral marketing for GTA 6. But hey, who knows? Maybe he’ll get his millions. Anything can happen in Florida.
