Comedian wins legal battle to joke about divorce

A stand-up comedian is finally allowed to joke about his ex-wife on stage after winning a bitter legal dispute in which she tried to gag him. Stephen Grant spent two years fighting for a settlement with his wife Anneliese before receiving a letter from her lawyers insisting he not refer to their break up during his routine.

Solicitors on his behalf were forced to invoke the Human Rights Act and the right to freedom of speech before the request was withdrawn. More than a year after the divorce was finally resolved, Grant is finally using “ex-wife related red mist” as material for his work.



Grant, 37, from Brighton said last night that he was still nervous about using the material, in case he slandered his former wife. “My solicitor said ‘if you are going to say anything, make sure it’s true because otherwise it is slander’.

“After 14 years of stand-up, the issue of my divorce is the most honest work I have done. I am quite nervous – if I get this wrong, it is not just unfunny, it might be slanderous.”

Full story here.