NEW YORK (AP) — The makers of Sesame Street are suing the creators of a new Melissa McCarthy movie, saying they're abusing the famed puppets' sterling reputation to promote the film.
A judge Friday scheduled a hearing next week to consider a request for immediate relief by Sesame Workshop, which sued Thursday in federal court for unspecified damages.
The film, The Happytime Murders, is scheduled for release Aug. 17. McCarthy plays a human detective who teams with a puppet partner to investigate grisly puppet murders.
The lawsuit said the Sesame Street brand will be harmed by a just-released movie trailer featuring "explicit, profane, drug-using, misogynistic, violent, copulating and even ejaculating puppets" along with the tagline "NO SESAME. ALL STREET."
STX Productions LLC says in a statement it is confident in its legal position.
YouTube has listed it as an "age-restricted video" and requires users to verify their age before watching it.
STX, which is one of the production companies that's producing the film, wrote on YouTube the movie is "a filthy comedy set in the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles where puppets and humans coexist. Two clashing detectives with a shared secret, one human (Melissa McCarthy) and one puppet, are forced to work together again to solve the brutal murders of the former cast of a beloved classic puppet television show."
