Man Files Lawsuit Claiming 'Hangover II' Stole His Life Story

The Hangover Part II is causing all sorts of legal trouble for Warner Bros. Back in April, tattoo artist S. Victor Whitmill sued the studio over its use of a tattoo he'd designed for Mike Tyson, and late this summer a stunt double sued over significant head injuries he'd sustained during the production. Now another lawsuit has popped up concerning the film, this one by a California resident named Michael Alan Rubin who claims the movie was ripped off of a script he'd written based on his own life story.

Part of me wonders why Rubin would want to admit something like that even if it were true — the characters in the film mostly come across as jerks and dumbasses — but most of me understands that the potential for a fat financial settlement is a pretty compelling draw. More details after the jump.

Rubin is suing Warner Bros. for "copyright infringement, misappropriation of his publicity rights, and defamation." With regard to the last count, Rubin's specific grievance is that the filmmakers portrayed Ed Helms' character as being on drugs when he cheated on his finacee and proposed to a transsexual prostitute. (He's apparently okay with the cheating and prostitution parts.) I'm not a lawyer, so if any of you are, perhaps you can help clear this up — but does it make any sense to sue a company for defamation when no one but Rubin seems to view the characters as being based on Rubin in the first place?

Without knowing the details of the case, I can't say whether or not it seems likely that Rubin really was ripped off. But for what it's worth, The Hollywood Reporter, who broke the story, seems skeptical. For one thing, they point out, Rubin is representing himself. While that doesn't prove he's lying, it could suggest that his case is rather weak. But more importantly, they note that "Rubin provides no evidence that the producers of Hangover II knew who the heck he was." Sounds pretty damning to me.