"Bro was desperate for that bag" - NBA fans hilariously react to LeBron James' tattoo artist losing lawsuit against 2K Games
LeBron James' tattoo artist Jimmy Hayden lost one of his lawsuits against Take-Two Interactive, the company that owns 2K Games. Hayden sued the video game holding company for copyright infringement. NBA fans reacted to Hayden losing his lawsuit on social media.
According to Reuters, a jury sided with Take-Two Interactive after they agreed that it was the company's right to use James' likeness in NBA 2K games. The defense argued that the NBA superstar didn't have to get permission from his tattoo artist to license his body art.
"The decision is an important decision for the entertainment industry. It is also an important decision for anyone who has ever gotten a tattoo and might have otherwise worried about their freedom to share their bodies with their tattoos.
"And it is a good development for tattoo artists as a contrary verdict could have discouraged people from getting tattoos at a time when the art form is flourishing," Take-Two attorney Dale Cendali said. [H/T Polygon]
NBA fans on X blasted Jimmy Hayden for even filing a lawsuit against Take-Two Interactive. Some even thought that Hayden just wanted to get paid and failed miserably to convince a jury that his tattoos on LeBron James belonged to him.
"Bro was desperate for that bag wtf type of lawsuit is that," one fan wrote.
"LeBron's tattoo artist with the longest reach in history," a fan joked.
"People so desperate for any kind of bag these days," another fan remarked.
Other fans were baffled by the lawsuit and questioned whether tattoo artists really own the ink they put on people's bodies. It gets even more complicated when the body an artist is tattooing is famous or rich like LeBron James.
"Complicated case. If you buy a song you can't stream it on twitch for example. LeBron bought the tattoo but is it his?" a fan asked.
"Interesting case. If the tattoos are missing then it's not LeBron," another fan commented.
"On the flip side, that's also free advertising for his work in a super popular video game," one fan wrote.
LeBron James' tattoo artist first sued in 2017
The sage of LeBron James' tattoo on NBA 2K games started in 2017 when Jimmy Hayden filed a lawsuit against Take-Two Interactive. Hayden amended the case two years later when he argued that his tattoos on players like the LA Lakers superstar infringed his copyrights.
A judge dismissed two of Hayden's claims in January involving a couple of tattoos on James' body. It was Gloria James' name next to his iconic lion ink, as well as one of the stars on his left shoulder.
It was not the first time Take-Two Interactive was sued by a tattoo artist. The company had to pay $3,750 in 2020 after a jury sided with an artist about a lawsuit involving Randy Orton's tattoos on the WWE 2K games.