Paul O'Grady had legal dispute with brewery over 'Savage' ale

Paul O'Grady has recently been embroiled in a legal dispute with a brewery which unveiled an ale named after the presenter's drag queen alter ego Lily Savage.

The Mirror has reported that O'Grady sent a legal letter to Dead Crafty Beer Company in Liverpool after they unveiled a glittery Bakewell Tart IPA called Savage to mark International Women's Day in March.

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Artwork for the ale included a likeness of the Savage character — a TV fixture in the 1990s — which O'Grady claimed is a registered trademark.

The 66-year-old presenter said he wished the company had "showed me the courtesy" of reaching out before going ahead with the promotion.

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Dead Crafty Beer Company has since renamed the beer as "Salvaged" and will donate profits to an animal sanctuary, though O'Grady said he is "highly suspicious" of organisations using his name to raise money.

He added: "If they had any business acumen at all they would have asked to help with this so-called fundraising in the first place.

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"I’d like to see this brewery bring out a lager named after Mickey Mouse. Disney would not only sue them, they’d close them down."

Vicky Morgan, owner of the brewery, said she and her colleagues were inspired by their love for the Lily Savage character and were "shocked" to receive a letter from a law firm.

She added: "While we have the utmost respect for Paul O’Grady, his intellectual property and reputation, we hope these actions will stop further legal recourse and go towards helping animals in need in Liverpool."

O'Grady began to move away from the Lily Savage character in the noughties after his successful run hosting Blankety Blank in drag, launching The Paul O'Grady Show in 2004.

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In recent years, he has devoted much of his time to his long-running show on BBC Radio 2, as well as his heartfelt documentary series For the Love of Dogs.

He said last year that he will never perform as Savage again, declaring "there's not enough cash on the earth to get me dragged up".

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