Page 3 Profile: Lacey Jonas, computer game character

Lacey Jonas, computer game character (Rockstar Games)

So, who’s this?

Lacey Jonas is a character in Grand Theft Auto 5, the multibillion-dollar grossing computer game which has attracted the ire of actress Lindsay Lohan, known for storming off film sets. The Mean Girls star is suing the game’s makers, Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive, claiming they used her likeness for the character of Ms Jonas. Not just her likeness, also her outfits and clothing line.

What might have caught her attention?

Ms Jonas is an all-American rom-com starlet with an edge (tick). At one point in the game, she storms off a film set (tick), screaming “I am so f****** fat, oh my God they cannot get a shot of me”. The game also features the hotel Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood (tick), where Ms Lohan lived during the summer of 2012.

What does Rockstar say?

The company maintains, as is normal, that any likeness to any persons living or dead is coincidental. The chances are that Ms Jonas is actually a parody of a number of actresses and starlets from Hollywood past and present, Both Rockstar Games and Take-Two have said they do not want to comment on the legal proceedings. In the eyes of US copyright law, the use of parody is considered fair.

And what would Ms Jonas make of all this?

It’s all just going to make her more famous. After all, the media and her fans are so obsessed with her that exclusive pics can fetch six figures while she claims – in the game – that the autobiography of her gynaecologist was the best-selling book of fiction and non-fiction of 2010. She has so many fans, in fact, “they could fill the entire country of Africa”.