Lady Gaga Threatens Breast Milk Ice Cream Makers With Lawsuit

By AOL Music Editors Posted Mar 8th 2011 01:30AM

Lady Gaga is threatening to sue The Icecreamists, a Central London ice cream parlor, that used part of her name to sell their human breast milk-derived frozen treat.

The Icecreamists have gained some publicity since premiering the specialty ice cream, 'Baby Gaga,' nearly two weeks ago but now face a lawsuit.

Gaga's attorneys at the law firm of Mishcon de Reya sent the owners a legal letter asking them to stop using the name 'Gaga' in their ice cream, calling their concoction "deliberately provocative and, to many people, nausea-inducing."

The singer's lawyers are accusing Icecreamists owner Matt O'Connor of trying to promote his ice cream by linking it to her name, stating, "The references you are making to Lady Gaga are thus clearly deliberate and intended to take advantage of her reputation and good will. Associating the Lady Gaga mark with a food product which may be unsafe for human consumption (owing to the risk of it carrying such viruses as hepatitis) is also highly detrimental."

The ice cream shop is known for its obscure specialty creamy confections, but this one is causing more concern for fear of the spread of the hepatitis virus. Inspectors from Westminster Council's food standards confiscated the ice cream to determine if it met the country's health standards. O'Connor responded by stating that their first volunteer, Victoria Hiley, (whose 30 oz. of breast milk could help make 50 servings of Baby Gaga) was a registered blood donor and examined at a clinic prior to donating any milk.

Apparently, the ice cream is not for sale until it is officially cleared, according to O'Connor in an official statement on the ice cream parlor's blog. "It is worth noting that this ice cream was on sale for just a few hours before it was banned by Westminster Council, so it's not as if its been a best seller for a parlor where the paint is barely dry and the doors open just over a week," says O'Connor. "Nobody seems to have told her it is no longer for sale."

In a recent interview with Britain's Evening Standard, O'Connor said that the Gaga threats were unfair. "We think this is very unnecessary, the whole thing will be over by next week, but we are prepared to fight this in court," he said. "This is a David versus Goliath battle. I'm convinced we will eventually win. The world's biggest superstar has taken umbrage with the world's smallest ice cream parlor. For Lady Gaga to accuse us of stealing her image is laughable when you consider how much she has borrowed from popular culture to create her look and music. She also seems to have forgotten that since the dawn of time the word gaga has been one of the first discernible phrases to come from a baby's mouth. This is why we chose the name."

O'Connor added, "As for her assertion that our product is distasteful, perhaps she should reflect on her blood-spurting performance at the MTV Video Music Awards, or the fact she wears clothes fabricated from the flesh of dead animals. We have applied to register the trademark Baby Gaga and are confident we'll secure this."

When Baby Gaga first went on sale, women in Gaga-inspired garb served the ice cream at Icecreamists. Scooped into a martini glass, liquid nitrogen is then poured into the ice cream via syringe, and it's served with a rusk or baby teething biscuit.

The specialty ice cream is pasteurized then churned with Madagascan vanilla pods and lemon zest and sells for a whopping $23 per serving. Nearly 15 women, in total, have already reportedly volunteered to donate their milk to produce more Baby Gaga.

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Tags: Lady Gaga

Comments

(25)

Tuesday 08 March

By Frank

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Oh Lady Gaga get a life! So they want to use tittie milk and call it Baby Gaga. Have you ever heard a baby say, gaga, googoo? Well I have. Don't think of yourself as being the owner of the word GAGA. You're not!

By KR

High Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

She calls the ICE CREAM 'nausea inducing'??? Are there no mirrors in her home?

By Erc

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Well, I have to admit when I first read the story about the ice cream, and saw that it was named "Baby Gaga" I DID think of "Lady Gaga", so I am not surprised that she is suing.

If they weren't going for the tie-in, they could have called it "Gaga Ice Cream" or something like that. Not something so similar to "Lady Gaga".

By Tru

Lady Gaga still would have sued, even if they called it "Gaga Ice cream." Se thinks she owns the "Gaga" is what she's getting at here. Which is saddening... and rather ego-maniacal. Though, "Goo Goo for Baby Gaga" would be rather catchy. :-]

By SkyBlue

Lowest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

The Lady Gaga tie-in is definitely there. The "traditional" baby word is goo-goo, not gaga.

It's actually "Gaga googoo" or "Googoo Gaga." And I doubt a small town, European, icecreamist would link anything to Lady Gaga. Mostly since I doubt the man really cared or knew who she was to begin with. Plus, a celebrity willing to sue the life and livelihood out of a small-town ice cream parlor owner needs to check their pride. Because that is abominable and sick.

By dvdfrnzwbr

Wrong. It's gogo gaga.

By Kerri

Yeah, I'm sorry but I never once thought of Lady Gaga when reading of this ice cream. And gaga is high in my 4 month old daughters vocabulary, which is what I thought when I saw the title of it as well.
I think Lady Gaga needs to get herself a life and realize that the world doesn't revolve around her!

By Taz

This performer needs to get over herself. The word gaga has been used long before this girl came along. The name of the ice cream has nothing to do with her but she is arrogant enough to believe it is...WOW...she's not the sharpest tool in the shed.

By Allison

Sweetie, I think you missed the whole point here. It's not simply the use of the word "gaga" (which, you are correct, is not "hers"). What the issue here is that the entire name ("Baby Gaga") sounds a lot like "Lady Gaga" (taken as a 2 word phrase.

By Loren

Once again a flash in the pan no talent thinks they can own a word that has been used in the English slang for years. Self importance is a terrible thing or is it jealousy that she is so flat chested that she couldn't make more than an "a" cup worth of home made breast mike icecream.

By Gaga

Quit the yuppie news...who cares about the overpaid criers of life...Hey Lady Gaga Sue me I just used your fool name

By Ted

Breast milk ice cream is disgusting, but naming it after Lady Gaga...well the thought alone may cause vomiting.

By Major Tom

They should name an ice cream after lady Gaga because every time I see that fugly face I SCREAM !

By t

Her name should be Lady Gag Me, as that what she does when I see her, I gag. As far as Gaga, my baby said it, all of them do. The idea of breast milk ice cream is gross but not as gross as Lady Gag me, ophs I mean Gaga. She needs to climb back under the rock she came from. Can't believe she is so petty as to sue a small ice cream shop for calling breast milk ice cream baby gaga. Get over yourself you over inflated ugly woman.

By Oh Puhleezz

Not a fan of Gaga but if they were using the name in terms of the 'baby babble' then why would they have "women in Gaga-inspired garb" serving it? That, if anything, nullifies their claim that it has nothing to do with her.

By bbmp60

who gives a googoo gaga crap

By Meredith

"deliberately provocative and, to many people, nausea-inducing."

Were they referring to Lady Gaga or the ice cream?!

By jaime

funny since she stole her name from a queen song

Wednesday 09 March

By Thomas L. Knapp

That was the first problem with this whole thing to jump out at me as well.

Even if the notion of "intellectual property" is justifiable -- and the case for it looks pretty weak, honestly -- this seems well beyond the limit of reason.

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