Rachael “Raygun” Gunn says “we’ve resolved everything” after earlier in December shutting down Raygun: The Musical by the comedian Steph Broadbridge.
The Australian Olympic breaker said on Thursday “we’ve come to an agreement” after a “wild ride”, meaning the show could proceed with a different name and poster.
Gunn also insisted “we have not sought any costs from all this” despite her lawyers asking the promoter, Anthony Skinner, for $10,000 to cover legal fees.
So why is the stoush back in the news? Who said what and when?
When was the show announced?
The poster for Raygun: The Musical went public on 25 September. It was due to debut at a comedy club, owned by Skinner, in the Kinselas hotel in Darlinghurst on 7 December.
The show was advertised as a “parody exploration” of the breaker’s journey to the Olympics, with musical songs including You May Be a B-girl But You’ll Always Be an A-girl to Me, I’m Breaking Down and I Would Have Won But I Pulled a Muscle.
The musical’s creator, Broadbridge, told the Sydney Morning Herald the performance would be a “piss-take, but it’s done with love”.
“I really want [Raygun] to see it,” she told the Herald. “I’m terrified, though. What if she doesn’t like it?”
Was Raygun informed of the musical?
Broadbridge on Thursday acknowledged that she had not contacted Gunn before creating the title and poster. She wrote on Instagram that she had not intended to “mislead” people into thinking the breaker was involved in the production.
In a video posted to social media a week ago, Gunn said the first she had heard of the musical was in the Herald article and on Channel 7 News.
“We were totally blindsided by this,” she said last Friday. “And, unfortunately, the blowback was quick. People assumed that we had developed it, that we had approved it, and it damaged many relationships, both personal and professional.”
Skinner, the owner of iD Comedy Club and Stand Up Sydney, which was putting on the musical, noted that Gunn’s legal team had trademarked her kangaroo dance pose silhouette on 25 September – the same day the show poster featuring it was distributed.
Gunn described this as “misinformation”. “We were notified that there were applications from other parties trying to trademark my name and image for commercial purposes – I mean, totally wild,” she said in her first video posted to Instagram last week.
Why was it cancelled?
The musical was cancelled at the 11th hour after a legal notice from Raygun’s lawyers.
On 7 December Broadbridge posted a video to Instagram claiming lawyers had been in touch with the venue and were “worried I was damaging her brand, which I would never do”. “She doesn’t need me to do that,” she said at the time.
Broadbridge said the B-girl’s legal team had also instructed her against doing the kangaroo dance because Gunn “owns” it.
“That one did puzzle me – I mean, that’s an Olympic-level dance,” she said. “How would I possibly be able to do that without any formal breakdancing training?”
In a statement provided to Guardian Australia, Gunn’s legal and management team said it had “immense respect” for the work and effort that had gone into the show but needed to take steps to safeguard the integrity of her brand.
Broadbridge this week said she was “deeply sorry” to learn that Raygun had faced a negative backlash as a result of the media attention. “The last thing I wanted was for anyone to experience hate or distress from this situation,” she wrote on Instagram on Thursday.
What did the legal letters say?
Skinner received correspondence from Gunn’s legal representation, XVII Degrees, on 6 December requesting an “urgent response” over “significant concerns” about the show.
“Our client is concerned that her name, trade marks, choreography and likeness is being used without her prior permission, license, authorisation or sponsorship and in a manner that infringes her intellectual property rights,” it stated.
“In our view, you are causing significant confusion … that our client has somehow endorsed your show, is affiliated with you directly, and have permission to tell our client’s story.”
The letter claimed Gunn’s Olympics choreography was the “culmination of over 10 years of training” of which she was the “creator and author”, with Broadbridge thereby breaching copyright if she performed her moves.
It requested that the comedian immediately cancel the show and not use Gunn’s name, pose, images, choreography, story or history in future performances.
After Skinner informed Gunn’s lawyers that 70 tickets had been sold, providing a profit of $500, the law firm XVII Degrees again requested the performance be cancelled and requested that the comedy club owner agree to “reimburse our client with legal costs to date which we estimate to be $10,000”.
The second letter also said: “We note also that the court may choose to award additional damages having regard to the flagrancy of the infringement and the conduct of the infringer after being notified of the infringement.”
What does Gunn say about the $10,000?
On Thursday Gunn said she was really pleased that her team and Broadbridge’s team had “come to an agreement … and she still gets to take that show on the road” with a different name and poster.
“We have not sought any costs from all this,” Gunn said on Thursday.
“There is a lot of talk around this $10,000. That was from really early on … my lawyers were acting on my behalf. They’d sent out letters … they didn’t hear a response and we were worried that we might have to go to court. So the $10,000 would just be my potential legal costs if we had to go to court but, fortunately, we didn’t. That’s all been addressed with Steph’s statement.”
Gunn added: “I said before it’s not about the money and it is still not about the money. We’ve got no costs from them – not from Steph and] not from the comedy club.”
What happens now?
Broadbridge is determined that the show must go on.
On Thursday she released the promotional poster for Breaking the Musical, described as a “completely legal parody musical” ranked “No 1 musical by the World Musical Sports Federation”.
“The show is a comedy show, it is based entirely on stuff I read on the internet,” she said. “It is a fictional telling of a moment in Australian History.”
Gunn said it had been a stressful time for her and tough for Broadbridge, and everyone in her show, too.
“I am sorry for any hurt that was caused.
“I’m really keen to put the whole thing to bed … I’m looking forward to 2025. 2024 has been a bit of a tough year for me.”
