Legal theat over bogus press release

Edinburgh Comedy Awards boss Nica Burns has threatened legal action against an American comic who falsely claimed to be sponsoring this year’s prizes.

Lewis Schaffer distributed a press release claiming to be from ‘Nika Burns’, claiming that he was backing the awards – formerly the Perriers – in a deal worth just £99 a year.

However, Burns, who is financing the prizes from her own pocket this year after failing to secure a suitable sponsor, did not see the funny side and fired off a solicitor’s letter insisting he retract his claim and issue an apology.

The lawyers said: ‘Whilst our client would not be involved with a significant comedy award if she was bereft of a sense of humour, this has gone too far.’

And they said the bogus release was libelous, claiming the damage to her reputation would be ‘very substantial’, had anyone taken it seriously.

Burns told Chortle she had to take action for fear the bogus statement would find its way onto the internet and read by people unaware it was a spoof.

‘The press release contained quotes attributed to me that – if they were genuine – I would find incredibly offensive,’ she said. ‘I’d be upset and devastated if anything thought I’d said that for real.

‘People have always used the comedy awards for publicity. The problem was that he hadn’t thought it through and made up some ludicrous comedy name. What he used was too close to my real name. If you Google Nika Burns it comes up with me.’

She took particular umbrage at comments attributed to her in the release such as ‘comedians are as racist and xenophobic as the rest of us, and the British don’t like the French’ – which she says she would never agree with.

The original release also took a swipe at a former sponsor saying: ‘The awards had been named after sponsor Intelligent Finance for the past three years, but the company – owned by bailed-out bank HBOS – has now been prevented by Trading Standards from using the words ‘Intelligent’ and ‘Finance’ in the same sentence.’

Schaffer today issued a statement making it clear the original press release was fabricated to promote his show at the Edinburgh Fringe.

He added: ‘I heard that publicity gags were a traditional part of the world\'s biggest arts festival. The late and legendary comedian Malcolm Hardee once got a glowing review of his own show published in The Scotsman newspaper by masquerading as their own comedy critic.’

He added that his offer of the £99 a year sponsorship was clearly a joke as ‘anyone who knows me knows I couldn\'t come up with that kind of cash’.

After the lawyer’s missive, Burns and Schaffer have since been in direct contact and made it clear there are no hard feelings.

Published: 10 Jun 2009