Comedian Joe Lycett recently surprised (and confused) fans by legally changing his name to Hugo Boss. The funnyman, whose show Joe Lycett's Got Your Back will be airing on Channel 4 on Thursday evening, made the name change for all of the right reasons. Find out why...
Joe legally changed his name to Hugo Boss
Joe announced on Twitter that he had changed his name to protest against the fashion brand after the company sent out cease-and-desist notices to businesses and charities using the word 'boss'. He explained: "So @HUGOBOSS (who turnover approx $2.7 billion a year) have sent cease & desist letters to a number of small businesses & charities who use the word 'BOSS' or similar, including a small brewery in Swansea costing them thousands in legal fees and rebranding."
Joe will be releasing an item under the name Hugo Boss
He continued: "It's clear that @HUGOBOSS HATES people using their name. Unfortunately for them this week I legally changed my name by deed poll and I am now officially known as Hugo Boss. All future statements from me are not from Joe Lycett but from Hugo Boss. Enjoy."
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Hugo, formerly known as Joe, added that he will be launching a Hugo Boss product of his very own, which will be revealed in the upcoming Channel 4 series. The company Hugo Boss responded to the news at the time, telling the BBC: "As an open-minded company we would like to clarify that we do not oppose the free use of language in any way. We accept the generic term 'boss' and it's various and frequent uses in different languages. We welcome the comedian formerly known as Joe Lycett as a member of the Hugo Boss family."
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Addressing the brewery in Swansea, the company Hugo Boss clarified that they had requested that they change the names of two types of beer, Boss Boss and Boss Black, to avoid confusion. They said: "Both parties worked constructively to find a solution, which allows Boss Brewing the continued use of its name and all of its products, other than two beers where a slight change of the name was agreed upon."