Inspiration for Will & Grace’s Jack sues creators

Claiming to have been the inspiration behind the ultragay character of Jack on the popular NBC sitcom Will & Grace, Jack Deamer, an occasional creative consultant on the show, has filed suit against the show’s creators, Max Mutchnik and David Kohan, as well as against the network itself. Inside.com reports that Deamer is asking to receive compensation for the use of his persona. Deamer states that the creators promised to assuage his embarrassment at being portrayed as “flamboyantly gay” by giving him a car and a house in a “pleasant” neighborhood, a promise that has yet to be fulfilled. When Deamer first viewed the pilot for the show, he states that he “was chagrined, embarrassed, and devastated as he realized that the Jack character was a thinly veiled caricature of himself, that…Jack was recognizably based upon plaintiff but was portrayed as being flamboyantly gay, constantly over the top, promiscuous, and irresponsible.” The plaintiff is asking for either equivalent compensation, which he values at a half-million dollars, or an order blocking NBC from airing any episodes of the show featuring the character allegedly based on Deamer.