A Sydney teenager whose extraordinary mullet catapulted him to online fame is suing several media outlets for defamation.
A viral photo, which was shared on social media some two million times last year, inspired a host of news articles and memes commenting on Ziggy Mosslmani's haircut.
A hearing on Tuesday heard Mr Mosslmani is suing Daily Mail Australia, News Corp and KIIS radio for making him appear ridiculous.
Among his complaints were headlines and several photoshopped versions of the photo.
However, NSW District Court judge Judith Gibson struck out several meanings pleaded by the teen's legal team, including that he had been compared to Frankenstein, and that readers would believe he had allowed himself to be photographed and exposed himself to ridicule.
Judge Gibson ordered Mr Mosslmani to pay the legal costs of the defence applications for the pleas under dispute.
"The drafting seems to be designed to claim as many imputations as possible while simultaneously avoiding a defence of honest opinion or justification," she said.
The judge also said: "These are very short publications which 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, such as the 'Pythagoras' direction in one of the memes."
Judge Gibson rejected claims that the articles highlighted 'ugliness' on the part of the plaintiff.
The 'Pythagoras' hairstyle meme which was used in media reports, via Jeremy Nool (Facebook) Source: Facebook
"As already noted in relation to the photoshopped pictures in the Daily Telegraph article, the closest any such picture gets to suggesting there is anything unattractive (as opposed to ridiculous) in the plaintiff’s appearance is the photograph where a skunk has been added to the plaintiff’s head," she said.
The parties will return to court on November 17 for a second hearing.
Social media was abuzz with interest in the case.
