Burnett
Burnett v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.
Opinion
Opinion
Pregerson, J.
ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS
This matter comes before the Court on Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation’s (“Fox”) motions to dismiss for failure to state a claim and special motion to strike pursuant to California’s Anti-SLAPP statute. After reviewing the papers submitted by the parties, the Court grants the motion to dismiss, deny the special motion to strike as moot, and adopts the following order.
I. BACKGROUND
Family Guy is a half-hour, animated, comedy television program broadcast on primetime and geared toward an adult audience. Compl. ¶ 10. The show borrows heavily from popular culture, following the exploits of the Griffin family and friends in the fictional suburb of Quahog, Rhode Island. Id. ¶ 9. Family Guy routinely puts cartoon versions of celebrities in awkward, ridiculous, and absurd situations in order to lampoon and parody those public figures and to poke fun at society’s general fascination with celebrity and pop culture. See, e.g., Ex. A.
On or about April 23, 2006, Fox aired an episode of “Family Guy” entitled “Petero-tica.” Id., ¶ 10. Near the beginning of the episode, the Griffin family patriarch, Peter Griffin, an “Archie Bunker”-like…