Clint Eastwood Just Won A Massive Lawsuit Against A Marijuana Company

Clint Eastwood has the law on his side.

By Kristi Eckert | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

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Legendary actor, director, composer, and producer Clint Eastwood just won a major court battle against a Lithuanian company. The New York Times detailed that Clint Eastwood, along with Garrapata (the company that owns the rights to the actor’s likeness), sued multiple Lithuanian websites last year for falsely claiming that he had willingly endorsed their cannabis products during an interview on the Today show. 

Clint Eastwood’s lawyers asserted that the primary company involved, Mediatonas UAB, completely fabricated every and all information relating to Clint Eastwood and his likeness on their website. Eastwood’s lawyer was quoted within the cases’ official court documents stating, “Mr. Eastwood has no connection of any kind whatsoever to any CBD products and never gave such an interview.”

According to the New York Post, the specifics of Mediatonas UAB’s fabricated interview of Clint Eastwood on the Today show suggested that he was leaving Hollywood to become a CBD salesman for their products. The company went so far as to falsely quote the actor saying that he confessed it was a very difficult decision to ultimately leave Hollywood. Additionally, the company even tried to provide fake testimonials from other actors like Terry Bradshaw, Sam Elliott, Michael J. Fox, and Garth Brooks, in an attempt to support their overtly false claims. Clint Eastwood wasn’t having it.

clint eastwood

The judge who oversaw Clint Eastwood’s case, R. Gary Klausner of United States District Court for the Central District of California, immediately awarded the plaintiff and Garrapata $6.1 million dollars for Mediatonas UAB’s fraudulent acts after the company failed to respond to a court issued summons. 

Clint Eastwood’s victory in court comes shortly after the release of his newest film, a western title Cry Macho (2021). The actor and director has long been known for acting in westerns and can credit his rise to fame as a result of working on them throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s, particularly when he partnered with legendary spaghetti western director Sergio Leone. Cry Macho definitely serves to pay humble homage to his earliest roots as a performer. 

clint eastwood

However, even though Clint Eastwood has just had a big win in court, unfortunately, the same can not be said for Cry Macho. While the film is undoubtedly a great representation of what largely defined the early part of the Hollywood icon’s career, in general, critics have been rather displeased by the film’s overall plot and delivery. In fact, one commentator, Paul Schrader, went so far as to blast Clint Eastwood’s film in every possible area that one could be critical of a movie, down to even the camera angles and lighting. However, Schrader’s review might be a little dramatic given that movie sits at a pretty even split between favorable and unfavorable reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

Clint Eastwood’s victory in court versus the rather mediocre performance of the latest movie certainly attests to the age-old saying that, “you win some, you lose some.” However, Cry Macho’s performance certainly does not do much to tarnish the esteemed career of one of the most versatile people in the industry. Clint Eastwood will certainly continue to be remembered and revered for his work on western classics like The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (1966) as well as his more modern triumphs like Million Dollar Baby (2004).