Frida's Relatives Put Kibosh On Kahlo Barbie, For Now

MEXICO CITY (CBSLA) — The distant relatives of the legendary Mexican artist have won a temporary injunction that'll stop the sales of the new Frida Kahlo Barbie.

The Associated Press reported Kahlo's grand-niece Mara de Anda Romeo argued in court that toy giant Mattel, who makes Barbie, has no right to use the painter's image in its line of dolls called the "Inspiring Women" series.

The company said it worked on the doll with the Frida Kahlo Corp., a Panama company claiming it has the rights to likeness of the artist, AP said. The company said in March it had been given the rights to Kahlo's image through her niece Isolda Pinedo Kahlo more than a decade ago.

Some people criticized the doll's design, saying "the doll doesn't reflect Kahlo's heavy, nearly conjoined eyebrows, and its costume doesn't accurately portray her elaborate Tehuana-style dresses," AP reported.

Mexican actress Salma Hayek, who portrayed the painter in the eponymous 2002 film, lambasted the doll after its release, saying on Instagram that Kahlo "never tried to be or look like anyone else. She celebrated her uniqueness. How could they turn her into a Barbie[?]"

The "Inspiring Women" series of dolls includes other famous female icons like pilot Amelia Earhart, pioneering African-American mathematician Katherine Johnson and 2018 Olympic gold medalist snowboarder Chloe Kim.