ALBAWABA - The world's most famous masked graffiti artist might be finally unmasked. Being one of the world's most famous graffiti artists, Banksy has always managed to keep a low profile and has had his identity off the radar, however, a court order might blow off this cover any time now!
Despite his identity being the subject of intense speculation, so far the world has not been able to find out his real name or how he actually looks.
However, all eyes are now on the ruling of the High Court of Justice in London, as there is a defamation lawsuit being brought against “The Artist known as ‘Banksy’” and the company that authenticates his artworks, Pest Control Office Limited.
According to local reports, the case could finally lead to Banksy being unmasked after an intriguing name was included in the suit.
First brought to light by the Daily Mail, they claimed that a man named Robin Gunningham has been named in the lawsuit "as the first defendant". Gunningham has long been the subject of attempts to prove Banksy's genuine identity.
Coming from Bristol in southwest England — Banksy’s hometown — The Daily Mail claims that in 2008, an image was taken of a man kneeling, identified as Gunningham, besides a spray paint and a stencil in Jamaica, assuming that the man in the picture is truly Banksy.
At the time, Banksy's agent denied that the person who appeared in the image was his client.
However, in 2016, an academic study used a criminological approach known as "geographic profiling" to analyze Banksy's identity and concluded that Gunningham was the most plausible possibility.
"The claim for which we are suing Robin is false," lawyer Aaron Wood told Artnet in a statement. Only Banksy and Pest Control Office Limited were named as defendants in the claim, according to the outlet.
According to Artnet, the action was brought by British greeting card company Full Colour Black in response to a post reportedly posted on Banksy's Instagram account last November.
The post, which has since been removed, allegedly contained "defamatory words that referred to, and were understood to refer to, the Claimant," according to Full Colour Black's lawsuit. The company has been embroiled in a long-running trademark dispute with Banksy over a 2002 sandwich board design.
The allegedly infringing Instagram post appears to have been posted around the same time that the European Union's Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) decided in favor of Banksy, overturning an earlier ruling that had sided with Full Colour Black.
