Someone’s feeing a little insecure and threatened!
Anthony ‘Ant’ Kalloniatis, host of Celebrity Fit Club, has filed a lawsuit in Boston courts to stop British television presenter Anthony ‘Ant’ McPartlin from using the name ‘Ant’ professionally in the US.
The American ‘Ant’ is also seeking $32 million in ‘damages’.
Desperate!
For those of you who may not know, the British Ant is actually part of the wildly-popular (in the UK) hosting team of Ant & Dec. They’re like the Ryan Seacrests of England. You won’t ever see them on Brit TV without the other nearby. Ant & Dec are always ‘sold’ as a pair.
Anywho, U.S. Ant says he is already losing work after being confused with the English pair and claims their efforts to make it big in good ole’ America could kill his own career.
How could someone confuse the two??? The British Ant is hot, the American one – not so much. The British Ant is straight, the American one – not so much. Plus, you don’t get the British Ant without the Dec. It’s Ant & Dec. Not just Ant!
Just recently, Ant & Dec hosted the ABC quiz show Wanna Bet? in America.
A source familiar with the suit said, “…Ant and Dec did not state they were comedians when they applied to use their names across the Atlantic. Under American rules no two performers can have the same name. If Ant and Dec applied for a trade mark under the name Ant, and said they were involved in comedy, they wouldn├óΓé¼Γäót have been allowed to appear on TV. U.S. Ant is concerned that viewers, producers and show-bookers are confusing them, and he is losing work as a result.├óΓé¼┬¥
UPDATE:  The US Ant has given us an official statement.  He says:
“The U.K. SUN is full of malarky.├é┬á 3/4 of the story they printed is fabricated.├é┬á U.S. Trademark law requires me to defend and protect my trademark or it gets diluted.├é┬á Thanks to the people who wrote in support of the american hometown boy.”
And there you have it.
Do y’all think the lawsuit is lame?!
[Images via Getty Images.]