The satirical puppet show depicted the adored children’s character as rude and drug-addled in a sketch from its new YouTube series, titled Spitting Image: The Rest Is Bullshit.
In the skit, which also features a parody of Prince Harry as podcast co-host, Paddington greets the audience by saying: “I am from Peru, motherf*****r. I am Paddington Bear from Peru.”
When asked the secret behind his “personal glow”, Paddington says his self-care regime includes taking “100pc Peruvian, biodynamic, organic, catastrophic cocaine”.
Paddington Bear’s rights holder and StudioCanal, producer of the hit films Paddington, Paddington 2 and Paddington in Peru, have filed a high court complaint citing design rights concerns and copyright.
The filing does not reveal the details of the claim against Spitting Image’s production company, Avalon, but comes just months after The Rest is Bullshit series was launched on YouTube.
The version of Paddington put forward by ‘Spitting Image’ which has drawn fury from fans of the much-loved bear.
Today’s News in 90 Seconds, Wednesday, October 8
The series parodies podcasts from production company Goalhanger such as Marina Hyde and Richard Osman’s The Rest Is Entertainment and Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook’s The Rest Is History.
So far, in the sketch show Paddington and Prince Harry have interviewed Elon Musk. It has also read adverts for robot sex dolls and guns.
Paddington’s puppet also jokes that he starred in a Netflix series about the Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar as “Pablo Esco-bear”.
Meanwhile, Prince Harry’s puppet says: “I’m here to tell my truth and make a shit tonne of money out of podcasting as I don’t have any discernible talent.”
Avalon’s representatives have been contacted for comment. StudioCanal declined to comment.
Since its premiere this summer, the Spitting Image YouTube series has clocked more than 10million viewers, targeting celebrities including Meghan Markle and Taylor Swift.
The fallout comes after Spitting Image returned to TV through the now-defunct BritBox series in 2020.
As the series hit 40 last year, The Independent’s James Moore said it had reached a mid-life crisis.
Fans of Paddington have also pushed back against the sketch series’ depiction of the bear, claiming their childhood has been “ruined” by the parody and that they could not stand the “disrespect”.