Comedians are coming together to offer support to Louise Reay, who is currently facing legal action, in the best way they know how; a benefit gig! Ex Appeal will take place at the West End’s Lyric Theatre on 21st May with a fantastic line-up featuring Sara Pascoe, Aisling Bea, Rachel Parris, Lolly Adefope, Josie Long, Nish Kumar, Ed Gamble, David O’ Doherty, Josh Widdecombe and of course Louise Reay herself – with more acts to be confirmed.
Louise Reay was accused by her ex-husband of defamation and breach of privacy in her 2017 show Hard Mode. The couple married in 2013 and separated before Louise wrote the show, which focused on the Chinese government, freedom of speech and her relationship.
Earlier this year Louise set up a fundraising page to help with legal costs, saying “During that show, I referred to my husband a couple of times – perhaps two minutes’ worth of reference in a 50-minute show.
“The main gist of those references was to tell the audience how sad I was that my marriage had broken down recently.
“He is seeking £30,000 damages, his legal costs (which I can only assume will be massive) and an injunction stopping me from publishing statements about him.”
The award-winning comedian continued: “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.”
Louise’s ex-husband’s solicitors stated: “For an extended period last summer, following their separation, Ms Beamont [Louise] repeatedly performed a comedy show which identified our client verbally and in still and moving images, contained private information about him and his relationship with Ms Beamont, and made very serious and inflammatory allegations of wrongdoing against him.
“These allegations included the entirely false suggestion that our client’s relationship with Ms Beamont was an abusive one.”
Adding: “No right to freedom of expression or artistic licence can extend to the publication of such seriously defamatory and false allegations, or the unjustified misuse of our client’s private information.”
The proceeds from Ex Appeal will go towards Louise’s legal costs. To donate to Louise’s fundraiser click here, to buy tickets for Ex Appeal click here!
