Group Sued for Portrayal of Bart Simpson as Nazi

Twentieth Century Fox filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Wednesday seeking to prohibit a white racist activist from portraying the Bart Simpson character as a “Pure Nazi-Dude,” an anti-discrimination group announced.

According to the Anti-Defamation League, Fox’s Licensing and Merchandising Corp. filed the suit in U.S. District Court against Tom Metzger, leader of the White Aryan Resistance group. The league said Metzger’s group illegally infringed on the Bart character by advertising “Nazi Bart T-shirts” in its newsletter. The league also said the group advertised the T-shirts over its “Aryan Update” hotline.

Fox’s suit is seeking a temporary restraining order to stop Metzger from continuing to use the character, the league’s national director, Abraham H. Foxman, said in a statement. But Metzger, who said he has not seen the lawsuit, said he has already stopped using the Bart character.