W hy O ne M an S ued M ichael J ordan for $832 M illion I DON’T WANT TO BE LIKE MIKE Many people have been told they have a passing resemblance to a celebrity, and they usually have a funny story or two. To Allen Ray Heckard, his celebrity look-alike was no laughing matter. In 2006, he sued Michael Jordan for looking too much like him and ruining his life. Funnily enough, most people didn't think Heckard and Jordan looked alike at all. While each had a bald head, mustache, and a gold earring, the similarities seemed to end there. Many news stories noted that, compared to Jordan, Heckard is eight years older and 6 inches shorter.
The amount of the lawsuit was $832 million, and Heckard not only sued Jordan but also Nike, reasoning that the company helped Jordan achieve his incredible fame. The complaint argued that the resemblance to Jordan “has troubled Heckard’s nerves” and being stopped by fans caused him emotional distress for over 15 years. He requested damages for defamation, permanent injury, and pain and suffering. For someone tired of being “recognized,” Heckard didn’t shy away from media coverage. When asked how he arrived at the astronomical $832 million lawsuit figure, he gave this much-shared (yet difficult to parse) answer: "Well, you figure with my age, and you multiply that by seven and, ah, then I turn around and, ah, I figure that's what it all boils down to." When asked why he felt the resemblance to Jordan had affected his life so negatively, he could only answer, “I want to be recognized as me, just like Michael’s recognized as Michael.”
One question reporters did not appear to ask was why Heckard felt that Jordan should be held personally liable for hundreds of millions of dollars simply for his natural appearance. Sadly, we will probably never know the answer because the case ended rather unceremoniously. After a few weeks, Heckard dropped the lawsuit. He never publicly shared why, but a Nike spokesperson was glad to speculate that Heckard “finally realized he would end up paying our court costs if the lawsuit went to trial." In the end, many '90s kids would argue that Heckard was most guilty of looking a gift horse in the mouth. After all, there is no higher achievement than to “be like Mike.”
3 SUBTLE ALIENATION TACTICS USED BY NARCISSISTS
If you were married and had kids with a narcissist, you may notice them trying to alienate your child from you. Parental alienation is when one parent attempts to sabotage or undermine their child’s relationship with their other parent. They’ll use many different methods to damage that relationship such as gaslighting and psychological manipulation. Narcissists are all about mind games. A narcissist who can manipulate adults will have no problem doing the same to their children. Parental alienation is a form of child abuse and can cause irreparable damage to the relationship between child and parent. You need to be vigilant and watch for signs of parental alienation. You may also need to take steps to prevent it from happening in the first place. If you’re unsure what to look for, we’ve gathered three of the most common alienation tactics used by narcissistic parents. They ‘accidentally’ allow the child to overhear or come across derogatory information. It’s not surprising to find your child eavesdropping on private conversations or looking at items they found. But if a parent is trying to sabotage your
relationship, they may leave out sensitive documents or items that put the co-parent in a negative light. They may also have phone conversations where they discuss the other parent negatively within earshot of the child. They target the other parent’s relatives and close friends. A narcissistic parent won’t just try to threaten your relationship with your child. They will also threaten their relationship with anyone associated with you. If they can damage the relationships the child has with people inside your circle of influence, it will inevitably damage their relationship with you. They ask the child to keep a secret from the other parent. It doesn’t really matter what the secret is, but the fact that they’re telling your child to keep something from you is a bad sign. This sets up a scenario where the child will begin trusting the one parent less because they were told they couldn’t be trusted with secret information. It might seem harmless at first, but it can fester and damage the relationship.
2
JustFamilyLaw.com | 949.363.5551
Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator