'Paddy' whacked

McGuinness acts against MySpace fake

Phoenix Nights star Patrick McGuinness has taken legal action after a fan posed as him on MySpace.

The imposter had taken the comic’s picture and quotes from his official home page and reused them on the community site to make this profile look convincing.

However, when alerted to the fake, McGuinness immediately contacted lawyers who wrote to MySpace, who closed the account.

On his real website, the comic said: ‘There was someone on there passing themselves off as me taking messages, quotes, pictures and general gubbins off this my only official site and then plonking it on their own fake MySpace site.

‘I'm all for fan sites and freedom of expression but this nutter is actually saying they are me.’

McGuinness – whose stand-up DVD sold 200,000 copies this Christmas, was also upset that Dean Gaffney and Jordan had been signed up as his friends on the site. He also asked if the celebrities would ‘lend a bit of support and financial help’ in removing the offender.

He added: ‘I'm so sorry to all the people who have been conned by this low life into believing that they have been in regular contact with me.

‘If you have been duped by the MySpace fake then please let them know how you feel about having your time wasted and being made to look rather foolish by someone who is clearly one sandwich short of a picnic.’

Published: 20 Feb 2007

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