Twentieth Century Fox Sues Delco Man Over Moe’s Tavern Pop-Up Bar
The website for the Simpsons-themed pop-up bar claims it's a parody.
Twentieth Century Fox has filed a federal lawsuit over the pop-up bar based on Moe’s Tavern from the TV show The Simpsons. (photo via court exhibit)
Twentieth Century Fox is none too happy with a Delco man and his pop-up bar that pays tribute to Moe’s Tavern. That’s the watering hole in the still-running animated television show The Simpsons.
The huge entertainment company has filed a lawsuit in Philadelphia’s federal court against Media’s Joseph McCullough. According to the lawsuit, McCullough is the founder and operator of the company behind Moe’s Tavern, the pop-up bar in question.
You may have heard about the Moe’s Tavern Pop-Up in 2021. Back then, the bar came to the Springfield Mall in Springfield, Delaware County. It was a fitting location considering The Simpsons is set in a fictional town of the same name. Tickets for the 2021 event started at $37 and included some Simpsons-themed food and Simpsons-themed beer. 6ABC featured the Moe’s Tavern pop-up bar on the air, with Alicia Vitarelli getting a tour. The 6ABC story closed with the line: “The Simpsons TV show is not affiliated with this event.”
Apparently not.
The Moe’s Tavern pop-up bar has since visited other parts of the country, enjoying TV coverage when it did. And Twentieth Century Fox claims in court documents that their lawyers have repeatedly asked McCullough to cease and desist. But he has not done so. Twentieth Century Fox claims that McCullough continues to advertise his Moe’s Tavern pop-up events around the country.
In addition to using the name and concept of Moe’s Tavern, Twentieth Century Fox alleges that McCullough has also used Simpsons characters and plot points as part of his pop-up bar. Here’s an image, taken from court exhibits, of what appears to be Homer peeking through the window of the Moe’s Tavern pop-up bar:
Inside the Moe’s Tavern pop-up bar
McCullough also allegedly sells Moe’s Tavern and Simpsons-themed merchandise without permission. Twentieth Century Fox owns the entire Simpsons franchise.
We couldn’t reach McCullough for comment. But a message on the home page for Moe’s Pop-Up claims that the pop-up bar is simply a “fan-made parody event.” Of course, the First Amendment provides protections for true parodies.
The lawsuit accuses McCullough of copyright infringement, trademark infringement and other offenses. Twentieth Century Fox has asked the court to make McCullough stop running Moe’s Tavern. The company is also seeking unspecified damages.
