Farley’s Family Settles With Bike Maker Over ‘Fat Guy’ Brand

The family of Chris Farley, the deceased comedian who made his name on “Saturday Night Live,” settled a lawsuit Wednesday with a U.S. bicycle brand that it accused of benefiting off the actor’s “fat guy” image.

In the lawsuit, Make Him Smile, a company operated by the actor’s family that lays claim to Farley’s property rights, accused Trek Bicycle Corp. of acting unlawfully when it named its “fat bike” line “Farley.” The bicycles have oversized tires and other features for riding on unusual terrain like snow or sand.

Make Him Smile said in the suit — which was filed in California last fall before being moved to Wisconsin this month — that damages could exceed $10 million, but a Wednesday settlement announcement offered no details on the terms of the agreement. Neither Trek nor Make Him Smile responded to requests for comment this week.

During his decadelong career, Farley created a brand around the loud and sometimes frenetic characters he portrayed on “Saturday Night Live” and, later, in movies like “Tommy Boy” and “Black Sheep,” often using his weight to comedic effect.

That image was so critical to Farley that he even considered sacrificing his own health to keep it up, according to the suit.

“When advised by doctors to lose weight throughout the last years of his life, he had legitimate concerns that doing so could jeopardize his ability to get roles and dilute his brand as a comedian,” the suit said.

Farley died of a drug overdose in 1997. At the time, he was 33 years old, 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighed about 400 pounds, according to the suit.

And it was that well-curated “fat guy” brand that the family accused Trek of using.

The lawsuit alleged that John Burke, Trek’s president, lived in the same Madison, Wisconsin, suburb where Farley was raised and that Burke’s and Farley’s families socialized with one another.

Make Him Smile also argued that Burke and other executives at Trek “knew what they were doing when they elected to use the name Farley,” encouraging and welcoming its association with the actor.

Trek also did little, the family said, to dissuade journalists from reporting that Farley inspired its line of bikes.

But Trek had asked the court months ago to dismiss the lawsuit altogether, arguing that Make Him Smile lacked some of the rights it claimed. Trek also later argued that the suit should be moved to Wisconsin, a request that was ultimately granted Friday.

It was not immediately clear whether the settlement was influenced by the change of venue.