NBA Star Sues to Keep Ex-Fiancee Off of 'Basketball Wives' Reality Show
Orlando Magic basketball player Gilbert Arenas filed a federal lawsuit in Los Angeles on Monday to try to prevent his ex-fiancée from appearing in the upcoming reality series Basketball Wives: LA.
In the suit, Arenas accuses Laura Govan and Shed Media US of trademark infringement, false advertising and misappropriation of Arenas’ image, the Washington Post’s Reliable Source blog reports.
“The presence of the defendant Govan and the title of the show is an obvious reference” to the NBA star, of the Orlando Magic,” Arenas’ lawyers wrote in the filing. The show is “likely to mislead or confuse consumers that defendant Govan is either married to plaintiff and/or has special insight into plaintiff’s current life.”
Many cast members of both the Miami-based Basketball Wives and the upcoming Los Angeles version are, like Govan, not wives of professional basketball players but their girlfriends or exes. Basketball Wives: LA, which is expected to premiere in August, started filming just before Govan gave birth to her fourth child with Arenas four weeks ago, according to an earlier post at Reliable Source.
Arenas, who played for the Washington Wizards before being traded to Orlando in December, was suspended from play earlier last year after pleading guilty to carrying a gun without a license.
