Netflix’s miniseries about a fictional female chess player The Queen’s Gambit is under fire. A line in the final episode directly references real-life chess grandmaster Nona Gaprindashvili, who filed a lawsuit Thursday calling for it to be removed, according to CNET.
“The only unusual thing about her, really, is her sex, and even that’s not unique in Russia,” an announcer says during the climactic Moscow tournament in which fictional heroine Beth Harmon competes. “There’s Nona Gaprindashvili, but she’s the female world champion and has never faced men,” he says of a woman who can be seen watching the match.
Gaprindashvili is said to have filed the lawsuit against Netflix in Federal District Court in Los Angeles. The 80-year-old is seeking millions of dollars in damages. The suit claims the line about her not facing men is a “devastating falsehood, undermining and degrading her accomplishments before an audience of many millions.”
Indeed, UNILAD reports that the amount she is asking for in damages is $5 million.
In a statement to the Times, Netflix said, “Netflix has only the utmost respect for Ms. Gaprindashvili and her illustrious career, but we believe this claim has no merit and will vigorously defend the case.”
