Benefit gig funds Louise Reay's defence against her ex-huband

Comedians are staging a West End fundraiser to help Louise Reay, the stand-up being sued by her estranged husband for talking about him on stage.

Ex Appeal –  at the Lyric Theatre on May  21 –   will feature Aisling Bea, Sara Pascoe, Nish Kumar, Josh Widdicombe, David O'Doherty, Josie Long, Rachel Parris, Ed Gamble and Lolly Adefope.

The gig will raise funds for Louise’s legal defence after she was served with defamation, privacy and data protection proceedings over her 2017 Edinburgh show.

She is facing a demand for £30,000 damages - plus huge legal costs - for speaking about their break-up. Reay previously said: 'He has a lot more money than me and he says that I accused him of abusing me in my show. And so he’s suing me, which in my opinion is simply an attempt to silence me.

'As stand-up comedians, I believe it’s the very definition of our job to talk about our lives and social issues. So this has become a free speech issue - and free speech means everything to me.'

Tickets for the show, priced £15 to £25 plus fees, are available here.

A  crowdfunder set up to help Reay battle the case has already raised more than £10,000.

Published: 23 Mar 2018