Cape Town - Norman Pudney is not clowning around when it comes to his reputation.
The full-time children’s performer and circus artist recently won R60 000 in a defamation case against the editor and publisher of the men’s magazine FHM.
In December 2007, the magazine ran an article titled “FHM calls Bull****”, which focused on a variety of circumstances and people it detested.
The story condemned airline fares, car guards and clowns, saying they often resembled “grown men with long-term tik habits, dressed like transvestites from hell”.
Pudney’s character, Puddles the Clown, was featured as the story’s main image.
“Being a clown of impeccable integrity and a children’s entertainer for 29 years, I had to do something about the story,” said Pudney.
“My character is my livelihood. They wanted to print a retraction, but it was too late, the damage was done.”
Pudney’s legal team sued Hagen Engler, FHM’s editor at the time, and UpperCase Media for defamation in 2007. In April this year, the court found in his favour and he was granted a large sum for damages.
FHM took the photo from a database provided by Masterfile Corporation. Pudney posed for Masterfile in 2006. The picture was to be shared if certain conditions were met.
Pudney’s lawyer had to prove that FHM intended to defame Pudney and had breached the conditions of using a Masterfile photo.
The court found that FHM had breached its contract with Masterfile by using the photo “intentionally and maliciously”, according to court documents provided by the Western Cape High Court.
“The photo in isolation is not defamatory,” said Sean Rapaport, who represented Pudney.
“The negative impact comes from the context, when people pick up a magazine and recognise him.”
The story defamed Pudney by portraying him in “a sensitive context” that associated him with substance abuse and an unstable mental condition, said the documents.