Sofia Vergara Sued by Estate of ‘Cocaine Queen’ Griselda Blanco Over Netflix Series ‘Griselda’

television

by Michael Starr

There is nothing to smell.

Sofia Vergara and Netflix are being sued by the estate of the late Colombian drug queen Griselda Blanco over Vergara’s upcoming Netflix series, “Griselda,” according to TMZ.

Blanco’s children, led by her son Michael, are trying to persuade a judge to issue an injunction blocking the release of the six-part series, which will premiere January 25 on the streaming platform.

The Colombian actress, 51, plays Blanco in the series and is almost unrecognizable in the role, forcing her to hide her famously curvy figure. She is also an executive producer.

Blanco ran her drug operation out of Miami from the 1970s until the early 2000s. She was called the “Cocaine Queen” and “The Godmother” and was feared for her business methods.

Blanco was arrested in 1985 and charged with conspiracy to manufacture, import, and distribute cocaine. After being sentenced to 15 years in prison, she was released from prison in 2004.

She was assassinated in a motorcycle shooting in Medellin, Colombia, in 2012 when she was 69 years old.

Blanco’s son, Michael, claims to have conducted a bunch of interviews with writers who were trying to put the story of his life and his mother’s life on paper to develop into a book or movie, which they would be shopping around Hollywood in 2016.

Michael claims that he conducted these interviews from 2009 through 2022 and that “Griselda” uses many of the anecdotes and material he provided for the book — and that he was not paid for the details.

He and his siblings are suing Netflix, alleging that it copied his family’s story to incorporate it into the plot of “Griselda” — and that their images and likenesses were used in the series without their permission, violating their rights.

According to TMZ, the lawsuit doesn’t claim that Netflix couldn’t dramatize their mother, who was a public figure, just that details provided by the family are used without any financial compensation to them.

Vergara starred as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett on Modern Family for all eleven seasons of the hit ABC series.

She currently serves as a judge on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” after joining the show in 2020.

Vergara recently spoke about her divorce from actor Joe Manganiello on “CBS Sunday Morning,” as Page Six reported. “You can’t hide these things,” she said. “I was moving on. You’re out there (in the public eye) and people know that’s part of being a celebrity.

“I knew it would happen.”

Netflix had no comment when contacted by The Post, which also reached out to Vergara’s representatives.