Ali Mosslmani, better known as the guy in all those mullet memes, is now the guy suing over all those mullet memes. The Australian teenager is suing three media outlets—the Daily Mail Australia, Daily Telegraph, and KIIS radio—claiming they defamed him by posting altered versions of a photo of himself with what can only be described as an epic mullet, snapped by a professional photographer at a party in Sydney. By putting his head on Mount Rushmore, a dollar bill, and a horse, the defendants labeled Mosslmani a "ridiculous person" and "hideously ugly," his lawyers say, per the Sydney Morning Herald. In a preliminary judgment, however, Judge Judith Gibson says there's no evidence the outlets implied Mosslmani was ugly.
The news articles "make the point that the plaintiff's striking mullet haircut has generated a great deal of interest on the internet, most of it humorous, and some of it in the form of clever observations," Gibson says, specifically pointing to one meme in particular, per Mashable. "The closest any such picture gets to suggesting there is anything unattractive … in the plaintiff's appearance is the photograph where a skunk has been added to the plaintiff's head." She adds that thousands of people liked the memes, suggesting viewers were actually fans, reports the Guardian. However, Gibson did allow claims that Mosslmani was labeled "silly" and "horrendous" to stand. The next hearing is Nov. 17. (Read the story behind the "Bad Luck Brian" meme.)