At the 1:05 mark GTA 6In the debut trailer, a heavily tattooed man is briefly seen talking to a judge via webcam. This character appears to be based on a real life Florida man who went viral in 2017 He was nicknamed the “Florida Joker” because of his appearance.

On December 5, 2023Lawrence Sullivan – the Florida Joker himself – posted a video on TikTok claiming that Rockstar based the character on him and that they needed to “talk” to Sullivan. Then on December 11thSullivan demanded Rockstar Games and parent company Take-Two Interactive pay $2 million.

“We have to talk, or (if not) you have to give me a million or two million,” Sullivan said. “Florida Joker won’t let this happen, you all took my image, you all took my life.”

On December 13, 2023Sullivan claimed he was suing Rockstar over the entire situation. However, in Marchhe backed down and instead demanded a few hundred thousand to voice the character in the game. Rockstar apparently never responded to Sullivan’s threats or demands.

On December 5, 2024 – one year after the trailer was released –Sullivan uploaded a video to TikTok He claimed his threats of a lawsuit were just a troll. He then claimed that he was the reason why GTA 6 The trailer was so popular. This saga continues.