'Fresh Prince of Bel-Air' Star Alfonso Ribeiro Sues 'Fortnite' Over Famous 'Carlton Dance'

It's not unusual for the makers of "Fortnite" to use popular dances as emotes in the hit game and now Alfonso Ribeiro is suing the company for taking his "Carlton Dance" and making money from it.

According to court documents obtained by The Blast, the former "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" star is suing Epic Games for what he calls an "unauthorized use" of his signature move.

Ribeiro, who says he is currently in the process of copyrighting the dance, claims "Fortnite's" Fresh emote is "identical" to his dance and he claims the name gives it away.

"The reaction from many players worldwide was immediate recognition of the emote as embodying The Dance and, in turn, Ribeiro," the lawsuit claims. "Indeed, by naming the emote 'Fresh,' Epic intentionally induced a direct connection between the in-game purchase and the show where The Dance started, 'The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.' That connection implied an endorsement of that in-game purchase by Ribeiro."

!youtube-embed(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbSCWgZQf_g)

Just like the lawsuit filed by rapper 2 Millyfor allegedly stealing his "Milly Rock" dance, Ribeiro is also claiming Epic has "consistently sought to exploit African-American talent ... by copying their dances and movements and sell them through emotes."

They claim Fortnite has copied the dance moves of Snoop Dogg from the video for “Drop It Like It’s Hot" and Donald Faison’s signature dance from the NBC television show “Scrubs.”

Alfonso Ribeiro is seeking unspecified damages.

UPDATE

1:20 PM PT — Ribeiro filed a similar lawsuit against the makers of the "NBA2K" basketball game franchise. Much like "Fortnite" and their "Fresh" emote, he claims the game sells an in-game dance called "So Fresh" that is a rip-off of his "Carlton Dance."