Do we like Sofía Vergara?
Our score: 8 out of 10. Public support for marriage equality, a joke against a travel ban and years of charity work, with one unresolved contractor dispute holding her back from a 9.
Sofía Vergara is the Modern Family star who spent years being told her accent and her glamour would box her in, then went and earned an Emmy nomination playing a drug lord in Griselda. She has said the Modern Family lines were easy, while Griselda meant learning proper monologues and sitting in the makeup chair for hours a day. She can also hold her own on live TV: when a Spanish host picked at how she said the show's name, she shot back, “Because you speak better English than me?”
Griselda brought a legal stoush with it. In January 2024 the real Griselda Blanco's last surviving son and his wife sued Netflix and Vergara in Miami-Dade County, alleging the show used his private artistic literary work without permission or credit. They wanted the release blocked, but a few weeks later their lawyer dismissed the complaint with prejudice, so it can't be refiled. Settlement terms weren't disclosed, and nobody has been found liable of anything.
The messier one is at home. In late 2023 a Los Angeles contractor sued her for about $1.7 million in unpaid renovation bills and alleged “pervasive, abusive, and hostile behavior” toward workers. Her lawyer says she raised overcharging and shoddy work first, and she has a counterclaim for more than $5 million. The contractor disputes that. The latest report I could open had no ruling, so treat it as alleged on both sides.
On the harm check, I found nothing nasty. The Advocate reported in 2012 that she had publicly voiced support for marriage equality. In 2017 she posted a gag about Trump's travel ban, which some found a bit much, but it's hardly harm. She also publicly slapped down a fake story claiming she backed Trump, calling it “Stupid fake journal” in a tweet. That's a denial, not a political statement either way. I found no climate or vaccine material at all.
The good stuff is real. She is a celebrity ambassador for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and has fronted its annual Thanks and Giving campaign, saying the kids there “hold a special place in my heart”. Her Emmy nomination for Griselda came late in a career she mostly spent as the funny, sharp-tongued Gloria, so she had to fight to be taken seriously.
Nothing new on her lately that I could pin down from reliable sources, so there is no fresh drama to report. The verdict comes down to one thing: the contractor fight. If the allegations of how she treated workers hold up, the asterisk gets bigger, but one disputed lawsuit isn't a pattern. For a family page that wants kind people, she's an easy yes.