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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Hero Cartoon Hairdresser’s Creator Sues Adam Sandler Over ‘Zohan’

MANHATTAN (CN) - Adam Sandler's "Happy Madison" company befriended him on MySpace, then stole his fictional "Jayms Blonde" cartoon character and used it as Zohan in the movie "You Don't Mess With The Zohan," a man claims in Federal Court. Robert Cabell also sued Judd Apatow, Sony and Columbia Pictures and an ad firm, insisting that Zohan was based on his character, a Navy SEAL who becomes a crime-fighting hairdresser.

Cabell says the defendants copied a visual depiction of "Zohan" from his Internet-based "Jayms Blonde Comics." He claims Sandler's corporation, defendant Happy Madison, befriended him on his MySpace page through Happy Madison's co-owner, Robert Schneider. Schneider is not named as a defendant in the case.

Cabell says "The Jayms Blonde story tells the chronicles of how a fictional Jayms Blonde becomes a United States Navy SEAL and the life experiences that lead him to abandon his occupation as a Navy SEAL in favor of hairdressing as a profession and of his subsequent adventures fighting corruption and evil in the corporate world. The image of Jayme Blonde with his distinctive logo featuring Jayms Blonde and his specific stylized Uzi blow dryer have been published in books, comic books and a novel distributed throughout the world."

Cabell says he sent the defendants a cease and desist letter, and that Sandler told the New York Post that Cabell's allegations were "without merit."

Cabell claims he tried to negotiate but the defendants declined and continued using his character.

He claims the infringements cost him anticipated profits from his own marketing of the image, and stopped a project to make an animated movie based on the character.

Cabell seeks damages and an injunction. He is represented by Kayser & Redfern.

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