The series starring Anya Taylor-Joy as chess prodigy Beth Harmon has faced backlash from the first female chess grandmaster, Nona Gaprindashvili.
Despite never appearing in the series, Gaprindashvili was described in the show's last episode as a female champion who had "never faced men". Now she is suing over this sexist reference.
Georgian Grandmaster Sues Netflix Over 'The Queen's Gambit' Sexist Line
The Georgian chess champion has now filed a $5 million defamation lawsuit against Netflix over that line, which her lawyers say is false and sexist.
The suit filed on Gaprindashvili's behalf in a US federal court in Los Angeles said the reference to her was "degrading her accomplishments before an audience of many millions," The New York Times reports.
The legal papers seen by Reuters said the five-times world champion was "the first woman in history to achieve the status of international chess grandmaster among men". She had played against at least 59 male chess players by 1968, the year in which the episode was set, according to the legal papers.
Netflix said it would "vigorously defend the case." "We believe this claim has no merit," a spokesperson for the American streaming giant was quoted as saying.
Fans Have Mixed Feelings About The Lawsuit
Fans had mixed reactions toward the defamation claims.
"They could have made up a fictional name. Why didn't they? Because using her name made their fiction look real. It's dishonest to dress up your fiction with real people and then misrepresent those real people and treat *them* as if they're fiction," one person defended Gaprindashvili's decision on Twitter.
"The 'it’s fiction' argument is kind of dumb because why didn’t they just make up a person. Either tell the whole truth or don’t bring it up at all," another person wrote.
Another Twitter user understands the sentiment, but believes a lawsuit "is uncalled for".
"So basically what they did here makes perfect sense in the world of television: they mentioned Nona on a side note and undermined her success to make the main character (Beth's) success seem like a bigger triumph. My feelings are mixed," they write.
"Honestly, it was only briefly shown on a newspaper and was very very insignificant and I don't think many people noticed. While it might be undermining her success, the show was entirely fictional and a lawsuit (to Netflix, who didn't even produce this show) is uncalled for," they added.
The Queen's Gambit is streaming on Netflix
