Comedian being sued for jokes aboit ex husband.

[HotCrossBunFight]

Here's a link...

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/stage/2018/feb/19/comedian-husband-sues-for-defamation-louise-reay-hard-mode

Basically the ex husband is suing this comedian for joking about him in a negative way in her stand up show.

Don't most comedians do this? Most stand up seems to be them chatting about their own lives.

Is this unreasonable? Seems to have backfired for him either way as it's on tonnes of news websites now.

I actually went to this show last summer. I 100% believed that she was telling the truth about the abuse - it wasn't done in a jokey way at all. I actually wonder if she was telling the truth and he was really abusive and she just feels like she had to say otherwise now bedside she's worried about making the legal situation worse?

Interesting input. Sounds like tshe certainly said some stuff she shouldn't have done if it was an act. If he was genuinelly abusive then I hope she's taken photos for evidence of something so the court tells him to get stuffed.

I know that feeling @Sparklesocks. An ex of mine is mildly famous and was already writing his biographies of his early life when I was with him. Part 2 was published after we split and that was nerve-wracking but ended before 'my time'. Now I've just heard the final book is due to come out later this year. They're mostly about his life in the spotlight and other famous people but have a heavy sprinkling of private life and we were together over 5 years. I'm a bit 😱 at the prospect.

WRT this story, I read that a transcript showed she talked about him for 2 minutes of 50minutes, so it wasn't a show about him; but you can do some harm in 2 minutes, so it depends what she said.

@thelastmermaid he definitely wasn't the sole focus of the show, it was just a few minutes. But it was impactful. She showed a video clip and some photos from their wedding. Some of the stuff she said was complimentary, like she said how handsome he was etc. But then also she drew these parallels to the oppression and authoritarianism of the Chinese state and then at the end she was crying (I think sincerely) and she mentioned her marriage to him and standing in solidarity with other victims of domestic violence. It was really moving at the time, my friend and I came out and donated to woman's aid because of it. I feel like if it isn't true it was really manipulative.

Dietcoke.... interesting to hear whats actually been said.

He doesn't sound very nice.

And I guess that's why he's suing!

if it is true that he abused her its a werid way to do it

if she hasnt got actual proof she'll be done for slander

If he wins this case I imagine it'll start at least a mini landslide of others.

Hers is the first act I've heard of that used pictures/movies to identify the subject of the jokes though - it's a bit shit.

Imagine how you'd feel if your ex was driving a van with a picture of you on the side & "Shit Shag" or "Moany Bastard" on the side....

It sounds like the show was very soon afyer the split. I wonder if she didn't properly think through what she was doing. Now it's in all the papers though so a quick.good will always associate him.with being an abusive husband.

Thanks DietCoke, that sounds like a powerful use of 2 minutes - and not something you'd be pleased about if you were him.

It's beyond the standard, "you know when you've been living with someone a while and can't stand the way they breathe..." lines (that always make me wonder how that was agreed/how things go after the partner watches the DVD).

I think this is a hugely difficult issue. I used to be a stand up comedian and I did refer to ex boyfriends but in a generalised way - no one was identifiable or specific. I merged issues and people and it wasn't really a major part of my act.

But lots of comedians do use exes in their comedy and in a more specific way. To be fair most are not so famous that we instantly know who their XH or XW is. But for their family and friends it will be identifiably them. And if the act is identifying with pictures, names or suggesting abuse then that's another matter and potentially slanderous.

My first response was that as a woman she was being punished way more than the (majority) make comedians who have been doing this for years. But maybe she crossed s line in pointing the finger at him.

More generally I'd say if you get involved with a comedian or author - buyer beware. Understand where they get their material from.... authors famously mine their own lives and their must be many hurt parents, wives, friends and children. I'm n the name of art?

That's wrong. It should be kept private. No matter what. Anyone who hangs out their dirty laundry goes down in my estimation.
Show some respect for yourself because after all, it was you that made a misjudgement in the first place.