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Summary: Harris Faulkner has settled the “Harris Faulkner” hamster toy lawsuit with Hasbro.
Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner didn’t want to be turned into a kids’ toy, and in July of last year, she filed a lawsuit against Hasbro for allegedly using her likeness. This week, the case has finally reached a resolution, The Hollywood Reporter said.
“Harris Faulkner and Hasbro are pleased to report that the lawsuit filed by Ms. Faulkner last year has been settled amicably,” the parties said in a joint statement.
The Hasbro doll in question was a plastic toy hamster called “Harris Faulkner.” The hamster had cute, giant eyes that were very similar to Faulkner’s own doe eyes, but Hasbro had argued that Faulker didn’t look like the hamster and that the “name-sameness” wasn’t enough to claim a right of publicity.
In July 2015, Faulker, who anchors Fox Report Weekend, filed the $5 million lawsuit in New Jersey. In her complaint, she said that the toy caused damage to her brand as well as emotional harm.
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The two parties reached an undisclosed agreement after U.S. District Judge Katharine Hayden allowed the lawsuit to move forward in July. She wrote, “In the specialized context of Hasbro’s successful toy line ‘world,’ in which the hamster is admittedly ‘a character’ designed to be played with, Faulkner’s allegation that this doll bears her unusual celebrity name sufficiently pleads a violation of the right of publicity.”
The judge had requested a survey of children’s opinions about the toy and whether or not people in the marketplace really thought the hamster was based on Faulkner. However, because of the settlement, the parties will not have to do the study.
The Harris Faulkner hamster toy is no longer being sold by Hasbro. According to Deadline, Faulkner also received compensation as well as the right to clarify that she had never endorsed the product.
Faulker was represented by Paul Halasz and Dennis LaFiura of Day Pitney and Dori Ann Hanswirth, Theresa House and Patsy Wilson of Hogan Lovells.
Hasbro was represented by Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz.
Do you think Harris Faulkner looks like toy Harris Faulkner? Let us know in the comments below.
Photo courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter
