Sofía Vergara, best known for playing the hilarious Gloria on the hit sitcom "Modern Family," has transformed into a real-life drug lord in "Griselda," which has landed her in hot water.
In Netflix's new limited series set in 1970s Miami, Vergara plays Griselda Blanco, the infamous member of the Medellín drug cartel known as the Cocaine Godmother. Vergara is unrecognizable as Griselda – sporting fake yellow teeth, a '70s-inspired winged haircut and a prosthetic nose. But this portrayal has not been met with open arms from the real-life Blanco family.
Created by the team behind the Pablo Escobar series "Narcos," the show is based on Blanco's real-life ascension to becoming a power player in the international drug trade. However, it dramatizes parts of her life, prompting the Blanco family to sue Vergara, who is an executive producer on the series, and Netflix for using the family's image and likeness without consent.
Salon examines Griselda's importance in true crime lore and why the family feels that Netflix is exploiting their life story without their approval.
Who was Griselda Blanco?
Before she was known internationally for her leadership as one of the few women in the drug cartel game and ruthlessly killing most of her husbands, Griselda was raised to a life of crime in Colombia. According to Vice, at 11, Griselda allegedly kidnapped and killed a young boy when his wealthy parents didn't pay a ransom. Soon after, she turned to prostitution and pickpocketing to survive. When she was 13, she lived with Carlos Trujillo, who was allegedly also a pimp and later became her first husband.
While the marriage didn't last, the couple had three sons. It is reported that they had arguments over their growing drug empire, which led to their divorce and Griselda later killing Trujillo. Years later, the queenpin,moved her family to New York City with her second husband and cocaine trafficker Alberto Bravo. Griselda then opened her own women's lingerie factory in her home country to create garments with hidden pockets to smuggle cocaine to the U.S.
Their work expanded into a vast criminal organization, but they were arrested in 1975. The New York Times wrote that it was "the biggest Colombian narcotics organization ever uncovered." According to CNN, they were charged with conspiring to manufacture, smuggle and distribute cocaine in the U.S.
However, before the indictment, the couple fled back to Colombia where they continued their business. In Colombia, Griselda shot Bravo to death while she survived a bullet wound to the stomach. This left her in total control of their cocaine empire. A few years later, Griselda married her third husband, Darío Sepúlveda, and they had a son, Michael Corleone Blanco, named after the ruthless "Godfather" character. They returned to the U.S. and settled in Miami where Griselda expanded her criminal empire, transporting cocaine from Colombia to Miami and New York.
The queenpin was also famous for the 1979 drive-by motorcycle murder at Miami's Dadeland Mall where she hired hitmen to execute a member of the trafficking trade, German Jimenez Panesso, and his bodyguard. Griselda would meet the same end in 2012 when an assassin on a motorcycle shot her dead in Medellín in front of her pregnant daughter-in-law.
The Blanco family files a lawsuit before the show's release
In an attempt to completely halt the show's Jan. 25 release, the Blanco family filed a lawsuit on Jan. 19, claiming that even though Griselda is a public figure, Netflix was unauthorized to use the family's likeness, and that they were not compensated for the show using their image. Blanco's son Michael, also claimed that he was involved in a series of interviews since 2009 that were supposed to be used to turn his life story into a book and TV series, which was planned to be shopped in Hollywood in 2016. But Michael said that the interview continued for more than a decade through 2022, IndieWire reported.
According to the lawsuit first obtained by TMZ, the Blanco family claimed that the project they were working on existed long before Netflix was involved. Michael stated that he was told Netflix was interested in the story but did not want to use any content from the interviews he did. But the family claims in the lawsuit that "Griselda" does rely on Michael's research and interviews without compensating him for his work.
Michael Blanco told Fox News that the Netflix series is "disrespectful" to his family. “Sofía Vergara did not consult with any members of the Blanco family as a sign of respect or elicit family details in portraying my mother,” he said.
“When I learned of the ‘Griselda’ project, my team reached out to Sofia’s camp and offered my consultation services. Sofia’s camp and the Netflix creators were disrespectful and ultimately produced the ‘Griselda’ project on their own for commercial gain, without key details from the Blanco family,” Michael continued.
Moreover, Michael said he sent a cease-and-desist to Netflix and Vergara's attorneys. But "Netflix nor Sofia’s camp has made any attempt to reconcile . . . I am Griselda’s only living son that has life rights agreements signed by Griselda herself in which she intended I carry out her life story,” he said.
"Griselda" showrunner's response
Thus far, Vergara has not addressed the lawsuit publicly. About playing in Griselda Blanco, the actor said, “I’m trying to understand her from the beginning. I started from being fascinated by her, because she achieved many things that it was impossible for a woman to achieve, even though they were horrific.”
In response to the lawsuit, "Narcos" and "Griselda" creator Eric Newman said, “It’s not my first rodeo. The Escobar family made similar claims. We had a very specific story we wanted to tell. I believe we told it, and I don’t think it in any way prevents someone else from telling their own version of it.”
Netflix had no comment on the lawsuit, Entertainment Tonight reported.
"Griselda" is now streaming on Netflix.
