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.
