The woman who inspired Jennifer Lopez's charismatic and conspiring character Ramona in Hustlers sued, claiming the portrayal damaged her reputation.

Hustlers are asking a New York federal judge to toss a lawsuit filed by the real-life adult entertainer who inspired Jennifer Lopez's character in the film, arguing she can't succeed on her claims that the film used her likeness without permission and damaged her reputation.

Samantha Barbash in January, along with Gloria Sanchez Productions and Lopez's Nuyorican Productions. She claims the film, which is based on a 2015New York Magazine article centered on her experience working in gentlemen's clubs, exploited her likeness without her permission and defamed her by showing the character using and mixing drugs in the home that she shared with her child.

As for the defamation claim, defendants argue that even if the average viewer understood Hustlers to be about Barbash, it's not defamatory because the events depicted in the film are substantially true. Further, they argue, Barbash is a limited-purpose public figure and would have to prove actual malice to succeed on that claim.

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The producers of 'Hustlers' are in a legal battle with the woman who inspired #JenniferLopez's character Ramona. Read the latest on the $40 million dollar defamation lawsuit at the link in bio.

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Further, Schell argues, "[e]ven if the Court were to take as true her conclusory allegation that she has suffered harm to her reputation, there is no plausible reason alleged (and no logical reason to believe) that one scene in a fictional movie depicting a character inspired by Plaintiff mixing drugs - rather than Plaintiff's participation in and felony plea to a criminal conspiracy - was the cause of that harm."