The raunchy teddy bear star of the hit 2012 comedy Ted is at the centre of more controversy.
That’s because Seth MacFarlane, who’s company Fuzzy Door Productions produced the film, was sued in federal court this week for stealing someone else’s ideas.
According to Bengal Mangle Productions, Ted is simply a rip-off of their own web comedy series, named Charlie: The Abusive Teddy Bear.
MacFarlane starred in, directed and produced Ted, which co-starred Mark Whalberg and Mila Kunis and raked in around $550-million worldwide, making it the most successful R-rated comedy of 2012.
However, his foul-mouthed Ted character bears a striking resemblance to the online Charlie version, says the lawsuit.
Like Ted, Charlie “has a penchant for drinking, smoking, prostitutes, and is a generally vulgar yet humorous character”.
The lawsuit further alleges that Ted and Charlie share the same physical characteristics and both ” spend a significant amount of time sitting on a living room couch with a beer and/or cigarette in hand.”
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
Charlie: The Abusive Teddy Bear was a screenplay that turned into a web series, available on social media platforms and online video outlets like Vimeo. Between June 2009 and June 2012, according to the lawsuit, it registered at least 1.2 million views.
The series was released on YouTube on February 2009.