Former Stripper who inspired 'Hustlers' sues movie producers for $40 million

The inspiration behind Jennifer Lopez’s character, Ramona, is suing the movie producers for $40 million.

According to the lawsuit which she filed in a Manhattan Federal court, Samantha Barbash is claiming she was exploited without compensation and defamed in the movie and is now seeking a compensation of $40 million, according to the BBC.

The movie is based on a New York Times article, but Barbash said she never sold her rights to the producers as they offered her peanuts.

In response, one of the defendants, STX said it would, “defend our right to tell factually based stories based on the public record”.

The film is the real-life story of strippers who swindled men into spending way more than they had planned to spend at strip clubs. Barabsh was identified as the mastermind of the operation and was sentenced to five years probation for conspiracy, assault and grand larceny.

Barbash said last April that Lopez was misrepresenting her, telling the New York Post that she was never a stripper.

The movie made $157 million dollars at the bod office and earned Jennifer Lopez a Golden Globe nomination at the just concluded awards show.