Can you blame him?Professional BMX rider Dave Mirra is seeking a minimal amount of $21 million in “damages and injunctions” in an effort to prevent Acclaim from further advertising both Mirra’s name and likeness. The suit, filed last week, is based on Acclaim’s use of Mirra’s name in both print ads and promotions, despite supposed previous agreements to disassociate the biker from the title.
The suit alleges breach of contract, unfair competition, injury to reputation, false advertising and invasion of privacy. It is the latest blow to both Acclaim and BMX XXX, which several large retailers declined to stock during the holiday season because of nudity and other adult content. Acclaim edited out some of that material before BMX XXX hit the market.
Despite shipping over 3 million titles under the Dave Mirra brand, one of the most recent being acclaimed Dave Mirra BMX 2, BMX XXX sold less than expected. As a result, Acclaim recently laid off staff, due to the comparatively lower revenue. Alan Lewis, a spokesman for Acclaim, called the suit “baseless”, and assured that the company would defend themselves “vigorously” against it.