Coked-Up Paddington Bear Parody Sparks Lawsuit From Producers
Paddington Bear is famous for his curiosity, his love of marmalade and his distinct lack of a life-ruining cocaine addiction — but that hasn’t stopped some British parodists from suggesting that Paddington has a problem with nose candy.
The iconic character dates back to the 1958 book A Bear Called Paddington, but he’s seen a surge in popularity in the past decade thanks to a new crop of movies, including the critically-acclaimed Paddington 2, which according to Rotten Tomatoes, is a better movie than Citizen Kane.
But this newfound attention has seemingly led to a not-so-flattering spoof.
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The British satirical puppet show Spitting Image recently launched a new YouTube series, Spitting Image: The Rest Is Bullshit. The fake podcast is hosted by a puppet version of Prince Harry and also Paddington, who always looks like he just spent a sleepless night on the floor of a bus station restroom.
If there was any confusion as to who this brown bear with a red hat and a blue duffle coat was supposed to be, according to the London Evening Standard, the character introduced himself by exclaiming, “I am from Peru, motherfucker. I am Paddington Bear from Peru.”
In one video, he introduces himself as “Paddington Bear, Peru’s number one thirst trap for the over-50s” in a Triumph the Insult Comic Dog-esque cadence. In another, he reveals his self-care regimen, which consists of taking “100 percent Peruvian, biodynamic, organic, catastrophic cocaine.”
As The Telegraph pointed out, the coke-fiend version of Paddington, who also “reads ads for guns and robot sex dolls,” actually originated with a 2023 musical stage show. One poster for the show boasted the tagline “Cocaine bear has got nothing on Paddington in Peru.”
You know who seemingly doesn’t love this portrayal of Paddington? The estate of his creator, Michael Bond, and StudioCanal, the studio that produces the Paddington movies. They recently “filed a High Court complaint citing design rights concerns and copyright” targeting Spitting Image’s production company Avalon. While the filing “does not reveal the details of the claim,” it seems highly doubtful that it would be for any reason other than the new show starring Paddington the strung-out dirtbag.
It remains to be seen how this will all shake out (the U.K.’s parody laws differ from those in the United States), but hopefully Paddington 4 won’t be all about the talking bear’s adventures in rehab.
