Leonardo DiCaprio compelled to testify in court over The Wolf of Wall Street
A former Stratton Oakmont executive believes the Scorsese film "damaged his reputation"
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Your support makes all the difference.The alleged real-life influence of a character in Martin Scorsese film The Wolf of Wall Street is suing producers for his depiction in the 2013 comedy-drama.
Andrew Greene - a former executive of Stratton Oakmont, the business featured in the film - believes he served as inspiration for the character Nicky "Rugrat" Koskoff (played by P.J. Byrne) consequently filing a lawsuit against Paramount Pictures, Red Granite Pictures, Sikelia Productions and actor Leonardo DiCaprio company Appian Way Productions.
DiCaprio - who played the film's lead role of Jordan Belfort - will now be forced to testify in court following claims the film damaged Greene's reputation.
The Scorsese film saw Koskoff's supporting character depicted as a toupee-wearing employee who has the line "Swear to God, I want to choke him to death" aimed at his person.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Greene's initial lawsuit for $15 million was rejected. However, a judge has since permitted him to amend his case which now states the filmmakers "maliciously libelled" him and changed his nickname of "Wigwam" to "Rugrat."
Both Scorsese and writer Terence Winter (Boardwalk Empire) have given formal testimonies leading the defendants to question the intentions of Greene's lawyers at calling upon DiCaprio for questioning.
They stated it had "earmarks of the intentional infliction of burden" and claimed that Greene's lawyers wanted "to coerce an outcome that is not based upon the merits of the case" considering DiCaprio didn't write the film.
It is believed the actor will be speaking on part of his production company Appian Way Productions.
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