Mattel is being sued over ‘Wicked’ doll packages with porn site link

4 December, 2024

Ariana Granda is Glinda and Cynthia Erivo is Elphaba in Wicked

Mattel is being sued for mistakenly printing a link to a pornographic website on the packaging for a series of dolls tied to Wicked.

A mother in South Carolina has launched a lawsuit in a Los Angeles court against the toy company after her daughter allegedly visited an adult entertainment website through the link provided by the toymaker.

The toy company mistakenly listed a similarly-titled website for the pornographic site Wicked Pictures, rather than the official page for the Universal Pictures film, starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.

According to court documents: “These scenes were hardcore, full on nude pornographic images depicting actual intercourse. Plaintiff’s minor daughter immediately showed her mother the photographs and both were horrified by what they saw. If plaintiff had been aware of such an inappropriate defect in the product, she would not have purchased it.”

The plaintiff alleged that Mattel didn’t offer a refund and believes she and her child suffered “emotional distress” from the misprint.

Mattel pulled the toy from shelves at retailers including Target, Amazon and Kohl’s and issued a statement (via Variety) that it was “aware of a misprint on the packaging of the Mattel ‘Wicked’ collection dolls, primarily sold in the United States, which intended to direct consumers to the official WickedMovie.com landing page.”

The company also advised consumers who already have the dolls to “discard the product packaging or obscure the link.”

The statement added: “The Wicked Dolls have returned for sale with correct packaging at retailers online and in stores to meet the strong consumer demand for the products. The previous misprint on the packaging in no way impacts the value or play experience provided by the product itself in the limited number of units sold before the correction.”

NME has contacted Mattel for further comment.

The lawsuit is seeking at least $5m (£3.94million) in damages for people in the United States who bought Wicked dolls with packaging that included the link to the adult entertainment website.

It accuses Mattel of negligence, selling products unfit for sale, and violating California consumer protection laws.

Elsewhere, Cynthia Erivo recently weighed in on fans singing along to Wicked in theatres – and she gave them the thumbs up.

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