The Real Rugrat From “Wolf Of Wall Street” Suing Paramount For $25 Million

Nathaniel Light11 years ago

Former Stratton Oakmont head of corporate finance and Jordan Belfort crony Andrew Greene is suing Paramount Pictures and “The Wolf of Wall Street” filmmakers for defamation.

Greene, who claims to be the basis of the Nicky “Rugrat” Koskoff character, is trying to remove the movie from theaters, saying the screenwriters portrayed him “as a criminal, drug user, degenerate, depraved, and/or devoid of any morality or ethics.”

Rugrat is the toupee-donning asshole, played by P.J. Byrne, in the film. Greene is seeking $25 million in damages, arguing the character was loosely based on his role (and “piece of shit hairpiece”) in Stratton Oakmont during its heyday. Byrne’s character was nicknamed “Rugrat.” Greene was known as “Wigwam” around the office. It’s tough not to understand where he’s coming from.

You might recall the scene from the movie where one of the investigators questions whether Rugrat’s hair is real. Or another scene, where his coworkers grab at his hair, trying to pull off his toupee. It couldn’t have been easy for the guy to watch that.

Greene boldly claims he never acted at all like Rugrat appears in the film (i.e. the senseless consumption of alcohol, the abundant coke, the wild airplane orgies, the reckless obsession with Quaaludes) and that he found Belfort’s past actions “highly offensive to women.” Alright, I’m sure you did, champ.

Here is Greene’s interview with CNN’s Piers Morgan.

In the interview, Greene also stated that Belfort had a Napoleonic complex, and that he only had his first girlfriend in college. But let’s try not to sound too bitter here. As a childhood best friend of Belfort’s, he also claims the “Wolf” was actually the one who gave himself “The Wolf of Wall Street” nickname. If you have to nickname yourself, you might as well write a book about it and turn it into a major motion picture, right?

Greene says he has had difficulty finding work recently, all because of the film.

“How am I supposed to provide for my family when I’m being portrayed as a criminal? When I’m being portrayed as someone who is a money launderer? That I’m a degenerate? That I would do drugs during my work day? If you were someone out there, would you hire me?”

Lighten up dude. I think you’re just a little sensitive about Scorsese making fun of your hairpiece.