Joe Hammond, the infamous street basketball player known as “The Destroyer” is suing Footlocker and Nike. The Harlem streetballer who rocked the blacktop back in the 1970s claims that the sneaker company’s t-shirt sold at Footlocker outlets violates his right of publicity.
According to the NY Post, the t-shirt in question has the tagline “Joe The Destroyer Hammon” (sic) with the picture of a broken down basketball hoop. As if using the poor man’s name wasn’t enough, Nike even misspelled it. Mr. Hammond was not amused by the shirt and is suing both companies for $5 million dollars in Manhattan federal court.
Mr. Hammond commented outside his Harlem home about the lawsuit. He told the NY Post: “They put a shirt of mine in Foot Locker with no contract.” No stranger to contracts gone bad, it is reported that he was offered a contract to play professional basketball with the Los Angeles Lakers back in the 1970s. He is said to have turned down the contract offer because he was making more money dealing drugs on the streets.
For more information on the right of publicity, please visit our Related Resources links.
Related Resources:
- Fur Flies Over Michelle Obama Image In a PETA Ad (Findlaw’s Celebrity Justice)
- Taco Bell Ad Causes Beef With 50 Cent (Findlaw’s Celebrity Justice)
- Obama Fried Chicken: Taste Aside, Is it Legal to Use the President’s Name? (Findlaw’s Free Enterprise)
You Don’t Have To Solve This on Your Own – Get a Lawyer’s Help
Civil Rights
Block on Trump’s Asylum Ban Upheld by Supreme Court
Criminal
Judges Can Release Secret Grand Jury Records
Politicians Can’t Block Voters on Facebook, Court Rules