What's Australian For Streisand Effect? Perhaps It's Fatty McFuckhead

from the dude,-that's-not-defamation dept

We've covered a few times just how strange Australian defamation law can be, so I wouldn't even take a guess at how the courts might come down on the question of whether or not calling billionaire Clive Palmer "Fatty McFuckhead" is defamatory. However, I will note that if Palmer didn't want people to start associating himself with the name Fatty McFuckhead, he might have thought twice about threatening to sue someone over that moniker.

As detailed in this fairly amusing video, a popular YouTuber named Jordan Shanks, but better known as Friendly Jordies, has been making a bit of fun of the billionaire, and that apparently is something that Palmer just won't stand for. Shanks goes through the legal threat letter in detail in the 26 minute video:

The video is... pretty incredible. Shanks goes through in quite a lot of detail responding to the threat letter, and laying out why he thinks Palmer deserves basically everything that Shanks said about him, and also "corrects the record" on one point, where he argues the letter alerted him that his original statements about Palmer might not have gone far enough.

We've seen this story play out so many times now. Someone super wealthy sends off a defamation threat letter to someone they know doesn't have much money, likely hoping to intimidate them into stopping being so mean to them. And, perhaps that works in some cases. But in so many cases it just leaves lots and lots of people curious as to why Clive Palmer doesn't want to be called Fatty McFuckhead.

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Filed Under: australia, clive palmer, defamation, fatty mcfuckhead, free speech, friendly jordies, jordan shanks, streisand effect


Reader Comments

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  1. icon
    hij (profile), 27 Sep 2019 @ 3:01am

    Oz is going soft

    Harden the fuck up Fatty McFuckhead.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. icon
    Stephen T. Stone (profile), 27 Sep 2019 @ 4:28am

    Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    haven escort, 27 Sep 2019 @ 5:10am

    stupid really

    Palmer is a public figure as he has bank rolled the palmer united party which is still going. He is planning on leading this party if he could just win some seats. So we can say what we like about him because of that. So harden up Palmer you idiot.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 27 Sep 2019 @ 6:29am

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. icon
    norahc (profile), 27 Sep 2019 @ 6:32am

    Please tell me Fatty McFuckhead Clive Parker is being represented by Stuart Gibson.

    My popcorn shares have been trending down lately.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 27 Sep 2019 @ 6:36am

    Narcissistic Personality Disorder seems to afflict the rich more than the poor. Maybe it is an indirect relationship, idk but these people need to wake up and smell the covfefe.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 27 Sep 2019 @ 8:11am

    Re:

    Dark triad. By and large, you don't get rich without being a scumbag.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. icon
    Gary (profile), 27 Sep 2019 @ 8:31am

    Re: Re:

    And having a sociopathic disorder isn't going to go well for a poor person.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
    icon
    OldMugwump (profile), 27 Sep 2019 @ 9:34am

    Re: Re:

    Hi, AC. Let me guess - you're NOT rich.

    And therefore, (somehow) you conclude that people who are rich must be scumbags.

    Have you ever heard the term "sour grapes"?

    Have a little more pride than that, AC. Rich people are just like you and me - only with more money.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  10. icon
    ECA (profile), 27 Sep 2019 @ 10:12am

    Lets wait..

    And see if the kid runs for office...

    Who thinks he has a good chance?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  11. identicon
    Agammamon, 27 Sep 2019 @ 10:18am

    ". . . he might have thought twice about threatening to sue someone over that moniker."

    Or, you know, chosen not to be a fuckhead.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  12. icon
    A-Sbeve-Or-Two (profile), 27 Sep 2019 @ 10:24am

    Re:

    And the clowns are still running the show.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  13. icon
    JoeCool (profile), 27 Sep 2019 @ 11:25am

    Re: Re: Re:

    Hmm - I don't know about that. Gimme a couple billion bucks and lemme judge that for myself.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  14. identicon
    Glenn, 27 Sep 2019 @ 1:36pm

    Using reflexive pronouns for objects is really just bad grammar; it almost hurts every time I see it. Not as bad as when subjective "I" is used when objective "me" is required, but still...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  15. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 27 Sep 2019 @ 2:34pm

    Re: Re: Re:

    I think the assumption is that after a certain point, it's physically impossible for a human to be deserving of that much wealth.
    Work hard? Sure, you deserve a good life.
    Work really hard? Maybe super clever, or invent something fancy? Alright, have a little more for your troubles.
    But a billionaire is another order beyond that. The only way to get there is by taking more than your fair share, more than you need, more than you could possibly need, and certainly more than you could possibly earn.
    Ergo, anyone who's gotten there...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  16. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 27 Sep 2019 @ 5:27pm

    I liked the pic of the baby with Fatty McFuckhead.

    Excellent job friendlyjordies.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  17. icon
    bhull242 (profile), 27 Sep 2019 @ 5:56pm

    A Proposal

    I hereby propose that, much like how “ass” is considered perfectly acceptable and inoffensive when used to refer to a donkey, the term “fuck” is not considered a swear word when used to refer to Clive Palmer as “Fatty McFuckhead.”

    Furthermore, one may refer to a person as a “Clive Palmer” to be used as an insult to refer to someone as fat, thin-skinned, and a “fuckhead.”

    link to this | view in thread ]

  18. icon
    Mike Masnick (profile), 27 Sep 2019 @ 9:15pm

    Re:

    You'll get over it one day.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  19. icon
    Paul Stout (profile), 27 Sep 2019 @ 9:46pm

    OH God. That has to be the funniest commentary video I've seen this year.

    If Mr. Palmer was mad before that video he has to be foaming mad at the mouth furious now!!!!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  20. icon
    nerdrage (profile), 28 Sep 2019 @ 2:00pm

    I'm a PR Genius, Pay Me!

    Dumshit, it's so easy to defuse something like this. Just make yourself a t-shirt that says Fatty McFuckhead, make a bunch more for a bunch of strippers who wear them in a wet t-shirt contest and then film a YouTube video with you and the strippers dancing around like morons, maybe throw in some random passers-by, donkeys, etc. Then put it on YouTube. Now you've owned that nickname and defused it because who the hell is going to try to top that? But if they wanted to try, that's just in your favor too. These corporate dickwads really need me to do their PR for them.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  21. icon
    nerdrage (profile), 28 Sep 2019 @ 2:06pm

    Re: Lets wait..

    After watching that video for 4 minutes until it started to bore me...naw. He comes off as a self-important moron who would be easy for the next guy to tear to shreds if he ever become worth tearing to shreds by having any power or money. He should stick to a career of making silly YouTube videos.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  22. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 Sep 2019 @ 4:46am

    What's Techdirtese for Fatty McFuckHead? out of the blue!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  23. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 Sep 2019 @ 10:14am

    I think I got the gist of this story.

    Fatty McFuckhead wants to change his name to Clive Palmer, and wants people to stop calling him by the name his momma gave him, "Fatty McFuckhead" ?

    You'd think Fatty would be fine with his birth name, and he'd carry on the tradition of being a total McFuckhead with pride (and possibly a bacon sandwich in each hand).

    link to this | view in thread ]

  24. icon
    OldMugwump (profile), 29 Sep 2019 @ 7:22pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re:

    Billionaires, unless they get that way via crime, become so by GIVING to the world, not by TAKING.

    By creating things that other people value enough to give them, voluntarily, BILLIONS of dollars.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  25. icon
    Wendy Cockcroft (profile), 1 Oct 2019 @ 2:56am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    Such as robbing people of healthcare and a decent wage?

    You sure have a weird way of looking at "giving."

    link to this | view in thread ]


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