Viral Olympian Rachael Gunn is back in the news as the fallout from the axed comedy show — Raygun: The Musical — continues.
The show was cancelled just hours before its debut on December 7, in a bid by Raygun’s management and legal team (17 Degrees) to protect her “intellectual property” and brand.
iD Comedy Club in Darlinghurst was hosting the show and now club owner Anthony Skinner has leaked the terms of the legal letter that he received.
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“You will reimburse our client with legal costs to date which we estimate to be $10,000,” the letter said, as well as demanding that the show be cancelled and proof of evidence that the show had been cancelled.
The comedy club is a small venue and tickets were only $10 a pop. Skinner said he made $500 from ticket sales which he offered to Gunn’s lawyers.
But the lawyers were having none of that.
“When they sent that $10,000 letter, I was like, ‘You’re f***ing joking’,” Skinner told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“I’m hoping this will stop … I run a stand-up comedy business in a city and country that’s not designed for comedy in any way.
“It’s $50 in tolls to get in and out (of the city), it’s already tough enough to get people in.”
The show’s cancellation and news of the $10,000 demand is undoing any goodwill Raygun has built up since returning from Paris.
Tom Birmingham and Eddy Simpson from the Hello Sports podcast said it was a bad look for Raygun and appeared to be calculated.
“I was starting to get around her, you know she was leaning into it a little bit. I was happy for her, coming back and making some money,” Birmingham said.
“And then now this, I’m like you should have embraced this.”
Simpson said she “should have embraced” the show because now people are going to think “you’re a loser again”.
“There’s a part of me that thinks she knows exactly what she’s doing,” Simpson said.
“She’s like, ‘where’s it held? Oxford St. How many seats? 20. How much are people paying? $10’. There’s $200 we’re talking about here now, if I sue I’m back on The Project, I’m in the limelight again.
“This (comedy show) wasn’t going to be at the state theatre, this is bush league stuff.”
After the show was shut down, Raygun told her almost 200,000 followers on Instagram that it was not about the money.
“I have been contacted to go on just about every reality TV show out there and I’ve declined big money because I’m not about that,” she said.
“Yes, I’ve trademarked my name and my now-famous kangaroo silhouette pose, which has been used in just about every piece of Raygun merch out there — which I’m not profiting from, by the way.
“And the reason we did that was because we were notified that there were applications from other parties trying to trademark my name and image for commercial purposes. I mean, totally wild.”
But comedy writer John Delmenico said there appeared to be some hypocrisy going on.
“Raygun went from ‘this is not about the money’ to ‘give me 10 grand’ within the space of a few days. I guess shutting down local artists from trying to raise money for DV shelters wasn’t cartoonishly evil enough for her,” Delmenico said on X (formerly Twitter).
SMH chief reporter Jordan Baker said Raygun only had herself to blame “if her reputation has suffered further since she got home”.
“Her attempt at controlling her image is not only unsportsmanlike; it’s against everything Gunn’s own breaking culture is supposed to be about.”
Fans also joined the chorus of criticism.
“Raygun tried to pass herself off as what Australians want to be, a loveable larrikin, giving it a go, no shame. But she turned out to be what Australians actually are – narc cops with zero sense of humour about themselves,” one fan said on social media.
Others also wondered why Raygun was taking this path and not trying to cash in on reality TV offers and commercials.
“Turns out breakdancing is not the lamest thing Raygun does,” one fan said about the legal move.
And another: “The whole internet loves Raygun, the larrikin Aussie academic that breakdances! *5 months later* We regret to inform you that Raygun is suing everyone.”
