Pablo Escobar’s Ex-Girlfriend Accuses Netflix Series Producers of Stealing Her Story in Lawsuit
Pablo Escobar’s former girlfriend, journalist Virginia Vallejo, has filed a lawsuit against the production company Caracol America, claiming the company stole her story for the show “Pablo Escobar: El Patrón del Mal.”
The lawsuit, filed in Florida district court on Thursday, accuses Caracol of two counts of copyright infringement, saying the company borrowed from Vallejo’s memoir to inform the show.
According to the lawsuit, Vallejo’s 2006 memoir “Amando a Pablo, Odiando a Escobar” (which translates to “Loving Pablo, Hating Escobar”), “details her relationship with Medellin cartel leader Pablo Escobar, and her cooperation with Colombian and United States authorities in prosecuting Alberto Santofimio Botero, ex-Senator and ex-Minister of Justice, drug cartel bosses, and others.”
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Vallejo claims the show took details from her life, which only could have been learned from her memoir, to inspire a similar character on the show named “Regina Parejo.” The lawsuit says Caracol had engaged in negotiations for the rights to Vallejo’s memoir, but the two parties “never agreed to terms.”
“What is more, Caracol has made careful efforts to duplicate portions of Vallejo’s highly unique protected expressions by creating a would-be stand-in, fictional character – but Caracol could not even imagine a fictitious name that did NOT rhyme with Vallejo’s name,” the lawsuit reads.
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