Tindall scrums down for High Court battle
THE Royal Family usually avoids the bruising scrums of legal action, but ex-England rugby star Mike Tindall, who is married to the Queen’s granddaughter Zara Phillips, has found himself embroiled in a High Court battle.
I can reveal that World Cup winner Tindall — whose uncompromising style of play earned him a broken nose at least eight times during his illustrious career, not to mention a lacerated liver and punc- tured lung — is being sued for damages over a rugby podcast he recorded with his former England team-mate James Haskell.
Presented by Old Etonian broadcaster Alex Payne, and featuring expert analysis by Tindall and fellow man- mountain Haskell, House Of Rugby speedily established itself as Britain’s most popular podcast of its kind after its launch in 2018. It attracted lucrative sponsorship from brewing giant Guinness.
But the trio’s success was in glaring contrast to that of the company which had set up the podcast, Joe Media, which went into administration in May.
Two months later, Joe Media was acquired by a newly formed firm called Greencastle, which confidently presumed it had thereby secured the services of Tindall, Haskell and Payne.
However, according to Greencastle’s High Court claim, Tindall and Co were by then thundering towards a try-line of their own, by ‘assert[ing] and represent[ing] to potential sponsors... and others that they were continuing the House Of Rugby podcast... and owned the right [to do so].’
Additionally, they were allegedly ‘prepar[ing] and distribut[ing] a PR campaign’ which indicated that they were ‘continuing the podcast’ and ‘rebranding [it] “The Good, The Bad And The Rugby”’.
Haskell, the claim alleges, even posted a message on social media showing him and Tindall wearing House Of Rugby T- shirts, and declaring: ‘The King is dead!... long live the king!!!...same choir, different cathedral. Get ready!’
But Greencastle — which is suing the trio for what is known as ‘passing off ’ and is seeking injunctions against them — has now felt the force of Tindall’s counter-attack.
Claiming that Joe Media owed them £75,000 in unpaid fees, he, Haskell and Payne allege that Payne ‘made it clear’ to Greencastle in July that they were ‘pretty far down the line with [their] own plans’. Greencastle’s ‘real complaint’, they claim, is that it ‘overpaid’ for Joe Media — while failing to retain their services and, in consequence, Guinness’s continuing sponsorship.
Greencastle partner David Sefton tells me: ‘Despite our best efforts to resolve this situation amicably, the continued actions of the defendants has left us with no choice but to act to protect House Of Rugby.’