Sofia Vergara is being sued by drug lord's family over upcoming streaming show

Actress Sofia Vergara is being taken to court by the family of the Colombian drug lord Griselda Blanco over her new upcoming series on Netflix.

Griselda is a fictionalised dramatisation inspired by the life of Griselda Blanco, who allegedly created one of the most powerful cartels in history. The six-episode special, set in the 1970s to 1980s, has reportedly caused uproar with real-life Griselda’s family. She was assassinated in 2012 and now her children, acting as representatives of her estate, claim Sofia’s portrayal of their mother is “unauthorised”.

According to sources the family is suing the actress and Netflix for the use of Griselda’s image and likeness in the series. Griselda’s son, Michael, says he has been doing interviews for years about a possible show about his mother, according to reports. Michael claims he’s been doing interviews since 2009, with the possibility of the story also becoming a book. Reportedly, Michael’s story was set to be ‘shopped around Hollywood’ in 2016, but went nowhere.

He alleged his interviews were pitched to Netflix, but after they showed interest, they reportedly didn’t want to use any of his details. Michael “claims he’s learnt this new Griselda show does, in fact, lean on a lot of his anecdotes and material but, he says he never saw a dime”, resulting in a lawsuit by him and his siblings, alleging Netflix “ripped off their family story”.