Weeks after Malaysian comedian Harith Iskander announced on his Facebook page that he was suing the organizers of the very contest that brought him global notoriety when he was crowned “World’s Funniest Person” in 2016 over unfulfilled prize money, comes the announcement that he is now being counter-sued by the defendants who are alleging that he has plagiarized their business model.
Owners of the Los Angeles-based comedy club The Laugh Factory are denying that that there was any breach in the contract, and are now saying that Iskander stole their “trade secrets.”
Not for nothing, but Mr. Iskander is widely known to be the the force behind KL’s latest comedy venue, The Joke Factory.
They have also taken the comedian to task over his timeline of the events that led up to his entry into the competition, saying instead that it was Iskander who approached Laugh Factory owner Jamie Masada, and suggested bringing the brand to Asia.
Surprisingly, the plaintiffs have alleged that Isakander wanted to open a string of clubs from KL, to Singapore, to Jakarta, and their lawyers have even gone as far as naming a particular individual that Harith is alleged to have called a “silent partner.”
Oh — who, you ask? None other than former Prime Minister, current MP, man with 41 criminal charges to his name, and recent motorbike enthusiast, Najib Razak.
Random, until you remember that Iskander and his wife appear to have shared a chummy relationship with the former leader, taking jovial photos with his wife, and even going as far as creating and starring in a thinly veiled video that could be interpreted as being pro-Najib in the run-up to the 2018 General Election.
Sorry, readers: The video has since been taken down, but you can still read our synopsis HERE.
Masada is alleging that all of this was simply a ruse, calling it “a scam,” and a means to break down the company’s successful business mode.
“Iskander never intended to honor this agreement; rather, it was a deceit designed to gain access to and then misappropriate Defendants’ protected, proprietary intellectual property, including trade secrets, trademarks, business operations, and other intellectual property,” writes Laugh Factory attorney David Martin in the filing.
When taking the owed US$100,000 prize money to task, Masada says that there were terms and conditions that needed to be fulfilled to get the cash in full — Harith did not fulfill these obligations, and also the organizers are saying that “he cheated to win.”
So… he’s NOT the funniest person in the world? Can we stop calling him that, or is there some kind of post-contest title that we should be adopting, like when Diana divorced Charles, and she could no longer use “Her Royal Highness.” You vibe, Masada legal team?
Laugh Factory owners are suing on the grounds of copyright infringement, sharing of trade secrets, unfulfilled contracts, unfair business practices, and interfering with prospective economic advantages. They reckon US$10 million should settle it.
We’ve reached out to Harith for comment, we’ll let you know if he gets back to us.
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