A TikToker says Disney is suing him for including one of its characters, Judy Hopps—the rabbit cop from the 2016 film Zootopia—in his username, “judyhoppsl0vr69.”
The content creator, Nik Salah, has posted videos playing into the brand, such as a video of him carrying around a massive Judy Hopps poster in a guitar case, seeing a Judy Hopps character actor at a Disney park, and asking a barista if they accept “JudyHoppsPay.”
He also went viral for catfishing a Jan. 6 attendee using the name “Judy Hopps” who admitted having “rope, duct tape, a hack saw, and a hammer in the trunk” on a right-wing dating site.
But it seems that Disney wants no more Hopps content from Salah.
On Saturday, Salah posted a TikTok showing himself recording a phone conversation he’d had with “Mark,” from Walt Disney’s legal department.
“So I was calling to follow up on a cease and desist letter that was sent to Niklas Salah, you, earlier this month,” Mark said. “In seeing that you have continued to profit off our copyrighted materials, I’m calling to inform you that we will be pursuing additional legal charges against you. And you can expect to have a court hearing on September 16, 2024.”
Salah confirmed that he was being sued over having “Judy Hopps” in his TikTok username.
“That is correct. If you view the original cease and desist letter we sent you on September 2, 2024, you should see that we included both the name of your account and the specific instances in which you unauthorized profited off of the Walt Disney Corporation’s legal material,” Mark said.
“Thank you so much Mark, have a good day,” Salah said at the end of the call.
“Ok Nik, see you in court,” replied Mark.
@judyhoppsl0vr69 Welp #fyp #disney #judyhopps ♬ original sound – Nik
The TikTok has racked up nearly five million views, with many commenters expressing shock over Disney’s purported actions.
“@Disney THIS YOU?? Over a USERNAME?!” replied one person, whose comment has been liked more than 5,600 times.
“disney is NOT playing,” remarked someone else.
Others expressed doubt about the authenticity of the phone call and noted that it did not seem out of the realm of possibility for Salah to have faked the call—though he reaffirmed in the comments that the post was not satire.
“I am 100% certain that no attorney would call you to tell you about a court date that’s coming up, and there’s also no way they can get you in court by September 16,” commented one person.
“this can NOT be real,” replied someone else.
Salah has previously posted about his interactions with Disney over his account, including sharing a call in May 2023 in which someone else from Disney said that he was allowed to continue making content so long as he did not make merchandise or profit off their likeness.
@judyhoppsl0vr69 Replying to @solis ☀️ the update we’ve all been waiting for #fyp #viral #zootopia #judyhopps #disney ♬ original sound – Nik
In a follow-up video over the weekend, Salah explained that about a year and a half ago, he received a DM from Disney’s official page asking to talk.
“I about pooped my pants because I thought that this DM meant that I was over and Disney was going to sue me for everything I was worth,” he said. “So I gave them my number and they called me, and in the call they basically just said I was okay to continue making videos and my content, however, I could not make merchandise or profit off their likeness, which was fine with me.”
“So for the past almost two years, I have been making videos knowing that Disney has had their eyes on me but also knowing that I’m not profiting off of their likeness, I’m not making merchandise, so thinking that I have free rein over my content,” he continued. “But last week, I received a cease and desist and a court summons in the mail from Disney stating that now, having the name ‘Judy Hopps’ in my username, ‘judyhoppsl0vr69,’ was profiting off their likeness and they would be suing me over it.”
He concluded by saying that he is flying out for the Sept. 16 court hearing and has a team of lawyers.
“We are going to fight this thing until the end,” he said. “But I figure, since this might be the last week I will ever have of being judyhoppsl0vr69, I might as well go all out, so be ready.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to both Salah and Disney.
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