Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star sues Fortnite creators for allegedly stealing 'Carlton Dance'

Fresh Prince of Bel-Air's star sues Fortnite creators for stealing 'Carlton Dance'
Photo credit: Epic Games / ABC

Alfonso Ribeiro, who played Carlton Banks in the '90s sitcom The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, is reportedly suing the creators of Fortnite for stealing his dance.

'The Carlton Dance' was a trademark of Ribeiro's iconic character, and he's now claiming the 'Fresh' emote in Fortnite is an exact replica of his well-known moves.

TMZ reports that Ribeiro has filed a suit against Epic Games, who publish the wildly popular multi-player video game, claiming he's in the process of copyrighting the dance.

"It is widely recognised that Mr Ribeiro's likeness and intellectual property have been misappropriated by Epic Games in the most popular video game currently in the world, Fortnite," Ribeiro's lawyer David Hecht reportedly told TMZ.

"Epic has earned record profits off of downloadable content in the game, including emotes like 'Fresh'," he said.

"Yet Epic has failed to compensate or even ask permission from Mr Ribeiro for the use of his likeness and iconic intellectual property."

Earlier this month, rapper 2 Milly launched nearly identical legal action against the game, claiming the 'Swipe It' emote rips off the Milly Rock dance he invented.

Both Ribeiro and 2 Milly have also filed suits against 2K Games, the company that publishes NBA 2K, for featuring their dance moves as player emotes in that franchise too.   

Newshub.