Natalia Grace Files Lawsuit Against Disney Over Good American Family

Natalia Grace has initiated a defamation lawsuit against Disney and Hulu, alleging that the series Good American Family portrays her as “deceptive, dangerous [and] manipulative.”

As reported by Us Weekly on Friday, March 20, Grace, 22, filed the lawsuit pro se, claiming libel by implication and defamation, while also citing false light and intentional infliction of emotional distress. She asserts that Good American Family may have led viewers to see her as “deceptive, dangerous, manipulative, dishonest, not truly a child, and responsible for acts of abuse, violence or attempted violence.” (TMZ was the first to publish the news.)

Despite each episode of Good American Family bearing a disclaimer stating that the show “reflects and dramatizes multiple conflicting points of view, and does not intend to suggest that any particular allegation is the whole truth,” Grace contends that the onscreen message failed to “meaningfully identify” which parts of the show were dramatized within the series’ “sensationalized and misleading narrative.”

According to the lawsuit, “Good American Family is not a fictional story about invented persons. It is a dramatized series built around [Grace’s] real-life identity, name, history, and public case, using real people, real allegations, and real public controversy involving [Grace].”

Executive produced by Grey’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo, who portrayed Natalia Grace’s former foster mother, Kristine Barnett, the series explored allegations that the Barnetts altered Grace’s legal birth date from 2003 to 1989 in 2012 and later abandoned her due to concerns about her alleged dangerousness.

Grace expressed specific concerns regarding the structure of Good American Family, where early episodes highlighted Kristine’s theories about Grace lying about her age and planning to harm her adoptive family, while the latter episodes presented Grace’s experiences of child abuse.

She contends that this format may mislead some viewers into believing she engaged in “attempted murder-type conduct, violence towards others, dangerous conduct, manipulative conduct, and other serious harmful acts,” all of which she firmly denies. The lawsuit mentions that accusations against Grace included violent acts that were “physically impossible” given her age and size.

Additionally, Grace claims that since the release of Good American Family, she has suffered “substantial reputational injury” and faced public ridicule, with individuals labeling her a “scammer, psycho [and a] sociopath.” She seeks an undisclosed sum from Disney and Hulu in damages.

Us Weekly has reached out to both Disney and Hulu for comments regarding the lawsuit.

Actress Imogen Faith Reid portrayed Grace in Good American Family. When the show premiered in 2025, Reid, 28, told Us that she fought to represent Grace’s perspective accurately in the series.

“Playing my version of Natalia, I truly wanted to ensure her voice was heard and that this story would bring her justice and empowerment,” Reid said. “I was deeply passionate about portraying her and actively advocated for her.”

She elaborated, “I made it a priority to fight for her. It was a great honor to play her role.”

Reid prepared for the role by viewing the 2023 Investigation Discovery documentary series The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks, featuring extensive interviews where Grace discussed her allegations of neglect against the Barnetts.

“It was almost like playing different roles [based on the episode perspective]. The Natalia depicted early in the series is seen through Kristine’s eyes, where she appears manipulative and always ahead,” Reid explained to Us. “For me, portraying that part was an exciting challenge as my first television role. You needed to stay alert and fully understand your character’s motives.”

She continued, “When we shifted to Natalia’s perspective, that was definitely my preferred viewpoint to portray, allowing me to deliver justice and ensure her voice was recognized.”

As noted in The Curious Case, Grace, who has a form of dwarfism known as spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita, was born in Ukraine in 2003. She was adopted by American couple Dyan and Gary Ciccone but they ultimately surrendered their parental rights due to what they termed her disruptive behavior.

The Barnetts adopted Grace in 2010 but later alleged that she was secretly impersonating a child. They purportedly altered Grace’s age legally so she was recognized as an adult and subsequently left her to live alone in an apartment while they relocated to Canada with their three sons.

Both Kristine and her ex-husband Michael faced child neglect charges in 2019. Michael was exonerated in October 2022, while the charges against Kristine were dismissed in 2023.

In 2023, Natalia Grace had her legal birth year reinstated to 2003 after medical evaluations confirmed she was indeed a child at the time of her adoption by the Barnetts.