The late Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar was quoted as saying, “The only man I was ever afraid of was a woman named Griselda Blanco.” That quote immediately sets the tone of “Griselda,” a highly anticipated limited series that is scheduled to premiere Thursday on Netflix.
Created by “Narcos” producers Doug Miro, Carlo Bernard and Eric Newman and “Justified” producer Ingrid Escajeda, the six-part drama series chronicles the epic rise and fall of Griselda Blanco, played by Emmy-nominated comedy actor Sofía Vergara. Nicknamed “The Godmother” and “Black Widow,” Blanco used her lethal blend of natural charisma and unsuspected savagery to amass a vast empire as a cocaine trafficker between Colombia and Miami and become a central figure in the violent Miami drug wars of the 1970s and ’80s.
The coming limited series has been generating headlines of a different sort in the last few days, after Blanco’s only surviving son, Michael Corleone Blanco, and his wife, Marie, filed a suit in Florida’s Miami-Dade County against Vergara, Netflix and others involved in the project for using the unauthorized “image, likeness and/or identity” of family members, according to the lawsuit obtained by NBC News and reported on Today.com.
They also allege that the show’s producers relied on recorded conversations with Blanco without compensation. The pair are seeking damages “in excess of $50,000” and an emergency temporary injunction to block the limited series’ release.
Netflix and Vergara’s representatives have not responded to requests for comments. Michael Blanco’s legal representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ahead of the series’ release, several of the series’ creators and one of the actors spoke to NBC News last month. They shared how the show came about, how it centers two powerful women on opposite sides of the law and how it evokes a painful era in Colombia’s historic fight against cartels.
The large ensemble cast includes Christian Tappán, who plays Blanco’s accountant, Arturo; Paulina Dávila and the singer Karol G, who portray two of her most important employees; and Orlando Pineda, who plays her eldest son, Dixon.
‘Part of Colombia’s history’
The series aims to “humanize” rather than “glamorize” Blanco. She can be seen as standing up to scary and powerful men, but ultimately “this story is about someone that was so blinded by power that it overcame any other motives that ever existed,” said Vergara.
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