Obama monkey tees may prompt lawsuit

ATLANTA, May 15 (UPI) -- The publishing company that owns the Curious George image says it may sue to stop sales of a T-shirt linking the monkey to Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

The shirts are being sold at Mulligan's Bar and Grill in Cobb County, Ga., The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Thursday.

The tees show a picture of Curious George peeling a banana, with the words "Obama '08" underneath.

A spokesman for publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, which owns Curious George, said Wednesday the company didn't authorize the use of the character's image for the T-shirts.

"We find it offensive and obviously utterly out of keeping with the value Curious George represents," said spokesman Rick Blake. "We're monitoring the situation and weighing our options with respect to legal action."

Critics have condemned the shirts as racist and have asked bar owner Mike Norman to stop selling them.

Norman acknowledged the imagery's racist roots but said he sees nothing wrong with depicting the Democratic presidential hopeful as a monkey.

"We're not living in the (19)40's," he said. "Look at him ... the hairline, the ears -- he looks just like Curious George."