An Australian teenager is suing three major media outlets for defamation, after an image of his “striking mullet haircut” went viral.

Ali Ziggi Mosslmani – who was photographed with a unique, luscious mane while at party – became a mini-meme last year after pictures of his hair spread across the internet. Due to his unusual styling choice, people were quick to mock the image; adding Mosslmani’s mullet to Mount Rushmore, a skunk, Pythagoras's theorem, a dollar bill, and a horse.

It was after these pictures were published in the press, however, that the teen decided to take action. Documents from the New South Wales district court show that Mosslmani is now suing the Daily Mail, Sydney’s Daily Telegraph and the Australian Radio Network for making him a subject of ridicule. According to his lawyers, the teen believed that the coverage was defamatory and implied that he was “hideously ugly”.

Unfortunately, despite his grief, it doesn’t look like anyone is taking him seriously. The surreal documents show that the defendant’s pleas are probably as offensive as the original pictures, with the Daily Mail calling Mosslmani a “joke” and a “ridiculous person”. “The plaintiff, by reason of his mullet hairstyle, has justifiably exposed himself to ridicule by the public,” they argue. 

The district court judge, named as Judith Gibson, also seems unsympathetic. “The plaintiff’s striking mullet haircut has generated a great deal of interest on the internet, most of it humorous, and some of it in the form of clever observations, such as the ‘Pythagoras’ direction in one of the memes,” she explained in the preliminary hearing. “The plaintiff has not been compared to Frankenstein, or some other hideously ugly figure; his haircut has been criticised as ridiculous.”

She added that the closest any picture gets to “suggesting there is anything unattractive (as opposed to ridiculous)” is the photograph where “a skunk has been added to the plaintiff’s head”. 

“These photoshopped images need to be viewed in context of the whole of the matter complained of,” Gibson said. “Viewed as a whole the matter complained of is commenting about his hairstyle being ridiculous, and this is not the same as saying that the plaintiff is ugly.”

The proceedings are listed for further directions on 17 November.