Arkell v. Pressdram (1971) is a famous UK legal anecdote where Private Eye magazine defeated a libel threat from James Arkell.

MediaFaro   MediaFaro   10 August 2026
Private Eye responded to Arkell’s lawyer’s demand with a curt dismissal (“f*** off”), the case never went to court.
Dear Sirs, We acknowledge your letter of 29th April referring to Mr J. Arkell. We note that Mr Arkell’s attitude to damages will be governed by the nature of our reply and would therefore be grateful if you could inform us what his attitude to damages would be, were he to learn that the nature of our reply is as follows: fuck off. Yours etc.