Sharon Stone Is Suing Rapper Chanel West Coast For Using Her Likeness And Name

The Streisand Effect strikes again. I haven’t been keeping up with what rapper Chanel West Coast has been up to lately (apparently existing, which was news to me) but Sharon Stone has. She’s been deeply invested in the rapper’s career. And by invested I mean she has sunk a lot of money into legal fees in order to stop Chanel from allegedly profiting off of her image and name. According to Rolling Stone, Sharon has filed a lawsuit against Chanel over her 2018 song and video Sharon Stoned. I’ve now, thanks exclusively to Sharon Stone, had to endure 5:42 minutes of repetitive mumble rapping from a busted looking drag version of Sharon Stone with a side of Surprise Michael Rapaport. Therefore I say to Sharon, screw you lady, and also, take her all the way down.

Rolling Stone reports:

Chanel West Coast — real name Chelsea Chanel Dudley — released “Sharon Stoned” in 2018. The song, as the suit notes, turns Stone’s name into a hook, while the video (released in April) finds Dudley recreating some famous Stone movie scenes, including the Basic Instinct interrogation. The suit alleges that Dudley’s intention from the start — with both the song and video — was to “trade on the fame and publicity rights of Sharon Stone for [her] commercial gain.”

The suit contains a detailed breakdown of Stone’s acting and philanthropic work, and argues that the actress “maintains strict control over the manner in which her name, likeness, image, identity and persona are used.”

Here’s the video in question. I personally can’t imagine anybody paid Chanel more than $50 for this drag on a dime, but apparently there’s a lucrative Shine rolling papers endorsement in the mix, complicating things further. Sharon’s also pissed that the song repeats “Sharon Stone” 33 times and the name “Sharon” 99 times.

How much is Red Man clearing these days? Even though the entire world’s seen her beaver, Sharon doesn’t want anybody thinking she endorses marijuana (but she’s fine with endorsing James Franco!?!).

Ultimately, the suit alleges that in using Stone’s name in the song and incorporating her likeness in the video, Dudley not only infringed upon Stone’s identity but used Stone’s name “as a celebrity endorser” without her permission and consent. (The suit also claims that because the video features product placement for Shine rolling papers, it effectively made Stone a “celebrity endorser to promote the sale of cannabis paraphernalia without her permission or consent.”)

Sharon’s lawyers really went in for the kill when they claimed Chanel was “trying to gain clout ‘by invoking and trading on the celebrity status and fame of others.’ and cited a 2017 BET article in which people reacted negatively to Chanel bragging about being “as talented as Drake and Kanye West.” In this, the year of our Lord 2019, is she wrong?

Sharon is seeking punitive damages and any profits Chanel may have earned from either the song or the video. This suit leads me to believe that Sharon must have approved this James Corden sketch which is way more offensive and harmful to Sharon’s image than anything Chanel’s ever done.

Pics: Wenn.com