South African musician Steve Hofmeyr holds the rare distinction of having lost a court case to a puppet. The puppet in question is Chester Missing, which is owned by South African ventriloquist and comedian Conrad Koch (pictured above with Chester).
The whole thing began in November 2014, when Hofmeyr blamed black people for apartheid. Koch replied in a series of tweets he posted on his personal Twitter page and Missing’s Twitter page in which he criticized Hofmeyr over his racist statement. One of his messages urged Hofmeyr’s sponsors to cancel their contracts with the musician.
Hofmeyr requested for a protection order against Koch and Missing over what he called threats and harassment. However, he failed to receive the order when a court determined that Koch and Missing had done nothing wrong and could tweet about Hofmeyr. The court also ordered Hofmeyr to pay Koch and Missing’s attorney fees.
Koch quickly returned to making tweets about Hofmeyr, who he called “Racistboy.” The less-than-amused Hofmeyr accused the courts of siding with the comedian and his puppet.[