Clint Eastwood’s bizarre multi-million dollar legal battle against a Lithuanian CBD company
Many of us would pay good money to have just one ounce of the cool factor that Clint Eastwood emanates. The Dirty Harry actor has been smouldering away on screen for decades, first as a brash young cowboy in the TV show Rawhide and then as the instantly iconic Man With No Name in Sergio Leone’s Fistful of Dollars trilogy. It probably came as a surprise to exactly no one when this consummate Hollywood leading man turned out to be an outstanding director, too. When he became the mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, it practically seemed like a foregone conclusion.
But while we might all dream of having a little of that Hollywood magic for ourselves, few of us would go to the lengths that one particular Lithuanian CBD company took a few years ago. Its blatant appropriation of Eastwood’s image was such a flagrant breach of the law, decency, and pretty much everything else that the company had to cough up a staggering $6million in damages to a filmmaker who definitely didn’t need it.
Mediatonas UAB made several false and — it must be said, creative — claims that the Hollywood legend used its products. In one instance, the company used a photo of Eastwood on the set of The Today Show and wrote a fabricated interview in which he endorsed the products. “In an emotional 1-on-1 interview, one of America’s most respected icons revealed that he wouldn’t be where he is without CBD,” the article crowed.
Eastwood brought two initial lawsuits in 2021 against three CBD manufacturers and marketers, along with ten online retailers who he claimed had altered search results to peddle the fabrication as well. In classic Eastwood fashion, his spokesperson asserted that the filmmaker had no opinion on CBD. He simply stayed above the fray and let the law do the rest.
Later that year, Eastwood and his company Garrapata were awarded over $6m, though the actor had initially asked for $30m. The judge presiding over the case acknowledged the argument brought by Eastwood’s team, citing the fact that the actor is notoriously selective about endorsing products. In fact, the only time he licenced his name and likeness was for a Super Bowl commercial that was much more on-brand than CBD gummies.
In the commercial for Chrysler, he spoke in husky tones about the Great Recession and the resilience of the American people. Airing during the exclusive halftime period of the Super Bowl, the ad was practically as prestigious as a feature film role and a far cry from the clickbait-seeking articles on dodgy websites about his supposedly emotional connection to CBD.
Eastwood isn’t the only actor who has had CBD companies falsely claim their endorsement. In January 2020, Tom Hanks posted a fake headline on his Instagram account in which the CBD brand CannaPro made up a quote by him endorsing the product. “After using CANNAPRO CBD for two weeks I was already feeling like a new me,” the quote read.
In his caption on the post, the Saving Private Ryan actor said, “This is false and an intentional hoax. I’ve never said this and would never make such an endorsement. Come on, man!” Unlike Eastwood, however, Hanks did not seek damages, which also seems very on-brand for the famously jovial actor.
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