Alfonso Ribeiro, the actor who played Carlton Banks in the hit ’90s sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, is suing Epic Games for allegedly using his signature dance moves for the Fornite “Fresh” emote without permission. Ribeiro also filed a lawsuit against Take-Two Interactive, the NBA 2K series creator.
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air's Alfonso Ribeiro sues Fortnite dev Epic Games over stolen "Carlton Dance" https://t.co/pdZcS1n3Wk pic.twitter.com/eEkhujiQIo
— GameSpot (@GameSpot) December 18, 2018
This isn’t Epic’s first legal dispute when it comes to Fornite. The creators of PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds, PUBG Corp., sued Epic for using Fortnite to recreate “the experience for which PUBG is known.” Eventually, the suit was dropped, but Ribeiro is currently filing for the copyright of his infamous Carlton dance.
Ribeiro’s suit came to light directly after another filed by Terrance Ferguson, who accused Epic of stealing the Milly Rock for Fortnite’s “Swipe It” emote. He describes the studio’s pattern for “exploiting African-American talent in particular in Fortnite by copying their dances and movements.” Ferguson cites Ribeiro as an example.