Lawyer Sues ‘Law & Order’ for $15 Million
NEW YORK — An Indian American lawyer is suing the producers of the television show Law & Order for $15 million, claiming they defamed him by portraying him as a crooked attorney in one “ripped from the headlines” episode.
Ravi Batra said that the show titled “Floater” maliciously inflicted emotional, economic and professional injury on him.
The lawsuit said the episode featured an Indian American, Brooklyn-based lawyer named Ravi Patel who has similarities to Batra, including a bald head and facial hair. Actor Erick Avari portrayed the Patel character.
People who know Batra and saw the episode “were disturbed and distressed by the story line of criminal conduct attributed to [the] plaintiff by [the] defendants,” court papers read.
Batra’s lawsuit names 35 defendants, including show creator Dick Wolf and NBC Universal. The company’s spokesman, Curt King, said the studio hadn’t seen the lawsuit and couldn’t comment on it.
“But this episode, like all Law & Order episodes, is fictional,” King said.
APAs Not ‘Scantily Clad’ Enough for TV
LOS ANGELES — A coalition pushing for greater ethnic diversity on television said that for Asian Americans, some progress in the management ranks has yet to result in an increased number of on-screen depictions.
“There are some real barriers … that we haven’t been able to break,” said Karen Narasaki, chairman of the Asian Pacific American Media Coalition, part of the Multi-Ethnic Media Coalition.
All the major networks earned overall C’s on Asian American representation.
Narasaki cited disappointment over two new series: NBC’s police drama Hawaii and Fox’s North Shore.
“In North Shore, only one of the eight (lead) characters was Asian American, and he was the bartender. Hawaii had even less diversity than Hawaii Five-O did, which was 20 years ago,” she said.
One Fox executive told Narasaki that one reason for the lack of Asian American actors was that they would have to spend a lot of time “scantily clad.”
“I said, ‘So Asians don’t look good scantily clad? I just came back from Hawai‘i and they look pretty damn good.’”
Korean on Eating Binge for 24 Days
SEOUL, South Korea — A South Korean gorged for 24 days on fast food to warn his countrymen about its health consequences, mimicking the subject of a hit U.S. documentary, Super Size Me, about the effects of a man’s month-long binge on McDonald’s fare.
Yoon Kwang-yong is now in rehab therapy to lose weight and lower his level of liver fat.
“From the fifth day of the experiment, my chest started to feel so heavy, my back and head started to hurt, and I couldn’t even breathe well,” said Yoon, a 31-year-old environmentalist. “Would I have the same symptoms if I ate only Korean miso soup and rice for a week?”
Yoon began his anti-fast-food campaign on Oct. 16. He videotaped his daily life and kept a journal about what he ate, how many calories he consumed and how much he exercised. He posted the data on the Internet.
After 24 days, he was 7.5 pounds heavier, and his total body fat increased by 11.4 pounds.