Speaker 1: You are now entering the court of Judge Gina Leano.
Speaker 2: Friends are our chosen family, but that doesn't mean it's
Speaker 2: always smooth sailing between two pals. When you need a
Speaker 2: friendship fight resolved once and for all, you come to
Speaker 2: my courtroom. I am Judge Gina, and my decision is final.
Speaker 2: You better be ready to hear my ruling.
Speaker 1: Sometimes working with a mate can be the death of
Speaker 1: a relationship. Louis has brought rooms to Judge Gina seeking
Speaker 1: recompense for a mis rehearsal of their critically acclaimed comedy
Speaker 1: show Besties. Louis is seeking one thousand dollars due to
Speaker 1: waste time. Can their friendship survive the business we call show.
Speaker 3: My full name is Lewis Oscarhansen. You might know me
Speaker 3: by Louis, and you know me potentially from the Internet
Speaker 3: or from some articles that I've written online, or from
Speaker 3: just being an icon in general. I have come to
Speaker 3: Judge Gina because I'm feeling really betrayed by a best friend.
Speaker 4: My name is Licinda Price aka Froomes. You would know
Speaker 4: me from the Flex and Froom show on Kata or
Speaker 4: on Instagram. So Louis is one of my best friends.
Speaker 4: We've known each other for about four or five years.
Speaker 3: We had one final in person rehearsal the week before
Speaker 3: our in Hindsight critically acclaimed Melbourne Comedy Festival shows, and
Speaker 3: I received a text from Miss Lisinda Frum's Price informing
Speaker 3: me that she had been on a bender the night
Speaker 3: before and hadn't slept, so we didn't end up having
Speaker 3: the rehearsal, and I was really upset by that.
Speaker 4: Today I am counteres seing Louis for sixty nine sixty
Speaker 4: nine do without what you will, just for having my
Speaker 4: reputation dragged through the mud.
Speaker 3: Really so, I have come here today for no other
Speaker 3: reason than to get one thousand dollar. Cost of living
Speaker 3: is high, and I went through some distress when Lucinda
Speaker 3: ditched that Rehanaisal.
Speaker 1: Court is now in session. Please rise the judge. Gina.
Speaker 2: Okay, Louis and Lucinda, Yes, okay. You to your friends,
Speaker 2: I understand bestie's bestie's besties. How do you know each other?
Speaker 3: We met when we worked at the same media publication,
Speaker 3: probably about four years ago. Now instantly there was a connection.
Speaker 3: We were like kindred spirits and we've been so close
Speaker 3: ever since.
Speaker 4: Yes, we were both writers and presenters, and so we
Speaker 4: bonded over the trauma.
Speaker 2: Of writing and presenting. You've bonded over the trauma of
Speaker 2: writing and presenting. Yes, okay, you're currently working together.
Speaker 3: We did some recently for Melbourne Comedy Festival and Sydney
Speaker 3: Comedy Festival, and I would say this is the first
Speaker 3: project in quite a few years that we've done together.
Speaker 2: So you're both comedians. Tell me a joke, make me laugh.
Speaker 4: What's green and has wheels? I don't know, grass I
Speaker 4: lied about the wheels.
Speaker 2: Right, Okay, Well, if you lie in this court, you're
Speaker 2: not going to get very far right. Tell me a
Speaker 2: proper joke my dating life. Oh that's the joke, you're
Speaker 2: dating life. Okay, you've summed it up.
Speaker 5: There, you go, thank you?
Speaker 2: All right. Okay, So Louie's actually asking for one thousand
Speaker 2: dollars as a victim of being dogged by his best
Speaker 2: de resulting in emotional turmoil and subsequent distraction from what
Speaker 2: should have been your focus on being an icon is
Speaker 2: your description? Okay, you have to focus on that. Okay, Well,
Speaker 2: we hope it just comes naturally, but in any event.
Speaker 3: It was there a sentence after that said judge Jenny
Speaker 3: would understand, as she herself is an icon.
Speaker 2: No, that doesn't say that included. No, I think that was.
Speaker 2: It was deliberately omitted, actually, because I don't need your flattery.
Speaker 2: So how did you quantify one thousand dollars?
Speaker 5: Just like a really impressive clean number?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 2: Okay, well can you tell me why I would be
Speaker 2: compelled to agree to that?
Speaker 3: Because I just felt like I experienced so much distress
Speaker 3: following the incident, distress that I didn't need in the
Speaker 3: lead up.
Speaker 2: No, but explain what that looks like. What do you
Speaker 2: mean by distress? Okay, you say that you were upset
Speaker 2: and on the day and that you felt like you
Speaker 2: were dogged by your friend, but the show went ahead
Speaker 2: and you didn't suffer any difficulties. Ultimately with the show,
Speaker 2: you've got stellar reviews from the Age.
Speaker 5: It was critically acclaimed.
Speaker 2: I have had a look over your application, Louis, and
Speaker 2: it says he that you were meant to have a
Speaker 2: final rehearsal on the Sunday prior to the commencement of
Speaker 2: your Melbourne Comedy Festival shows, and Lucinda texted you at
Speaker 2: seven am saying that she hadn't slept all night and
Speaker 2: that she wouldn't be making it to the rehearsal. I
Speaker 2: wouldn't be laughing. Does that sound right? Louis at your
Speaker 2: side of the story, correct, Judge Jenna, How did that
Speaker 2: make you feel? And what was the issue there? Why
Speaker 2: couldn't you rehearse another time? Why was it only Sunday
Speaker 2: morning or Sunday?
Speaker 3: So Lucinda was going to fly back to Sydney later
Speaker 3: that day. So I'm Melbourne based, Lucinda Sydney based, and
Speaker 3: this was the final in person rehearsal before Lucinda then
Speaker 3: flew back to Sydney and then she would come down
Speaker 3: again and we would do the shows. So I considered
Speaker 3: this our last in person rehearsal right before the shows.
Speaker 3: So it was an important one to me.
Speaker 2: Okay, And you are you employed by anyone or this
Speaker 2: is just something you do independently? Are you paid for Yeah?
Speaker 3: I would just say we're kind of like full time icons,
Speaker 3: so no, this is literally just us doing things.
Speaker 2: Okay, but you got paid for the show?
Speaker 5: Correct?
Speaker 2: Did you suffer any loss as a result of not
Speaker 2: having that rehearsal?
Speaker 5: Yes?
Speaker 2: What was it?
Speaker 5: Emotionally?
Speaker 3: I went through some emotional turmoil I felt as though
Speaker 3: Lucinda had prioritized potential suitor over the Besties performances at
Speaker 3: Melbourne Comedy Festival. That made me feel upset, and it
Speaker 3: also meant that I was distructed from putting in the
Speaker 3: hours to rehearse for the show, you know, in those
Speaker 3: last final hours of rehearsal.
Speaker 2: So you can't rehearse on your own.
Speaker 3: Obviously, we rely on each other. We bounce off each other.
Speaker 3: It's essentially one hour sleepover where we walk onto stage
Speaker 3: and it just this back and forth ensues. It's very conversational.
Speaker 2: And is it scripted or is it something that you
Speaker 2: add lib At the time.
Speaker 3: I would say, we have an idea of the general
Speaker 3: stories that we want to towel, but the majority of
Speaker 3: the hour is ad lib.
Speaker 2: Okay. So when you had done the two rehearsals, they
Speaker 2: were both in Melbourne, and Lucinda had flown down to
Speaker 2: Melbourne for those correct and she'd flown down to Melbourne
Speaker 2: on this occasion for the third rehearsal and hadn't turned.
Speaker 4: Up on my own dime, miss judged Gina.
Speaker 2: So it's cost you money to fly down here. But
Speaker 2: clearly you recognized that there was a necessity for a rehearsal.
Speaker 2: You've even put your hand in your pocket and paid
Speaker 2: for it. Is that right? You recognized that you would
Speaker 2: benefit from a third rehearsal. Some would say, would you say,
Speaker 2: do you agree with that?
Speaker 4: Next? No comment?
Speaker 2: No, no, you'll need to answer that question. You're not
Speaker 2: at the police station being interrogated. You're in a court,
Speaker 2: so you need to tell me did you do you
Speaker 2: agree that you were flying down to Melbourne for the
Speaker 2: purpose of a rehearsal.
Speaker 4: I was flying down to Melbourne for the purpose of
Speaker 4: two rehearsals, not three.
Speaker 2: Oh, so what you're saying is Louis got it wrong.
Speaker 2: You were in Melbourne, but you weren't there for a rehearsal.
Speaker 4: Correct.
Speaker 5: That is scandalous.
Speaker 2: I don't believe you. Why did you text him at
Speaker 2: seven o'clock in the morning to say that you couldn't
Speaker 2: make it to the rehearsal. Why would you text someone
Speaker 2: at seven o'clock in the morning and say I'm not
Speaker 2: going to make it to something that If you tell
Speaker 2: me you weren't here for that purpose, well, Gina, I.
Speaker 4: Think we need to look the receipts because I didn't
Speaker 4: say that. I couldn't make it. Actually, there's some evidence
Speaker 4: here that needs to be witnessed by you.
Speaker 2: Well, no, I want you to tell me first.
Speaker 4: So I went out on the Saturday night. I'd met
Speaker 4: a man on the Friday night, and I thought, I'm
Speaker 4: only in Melbourne for a few nights. Need to take
Speaker 4: opportunities as they come. As a girl boss.
Speaker 5: You never know when they're going to not be there.
Speaker 4: That feels like a dig. So yes, I decided I
Speaker 4: will go out and have a drink with this gentleman,
Speaker 4: which I did as I want to do as a
Speaker 4: young red blooded female, warm blooded female, and it turned
Speaker 4: into quite a large night. As I said, I didn't sleep.
Speaker 4: I sent Louis a message and it is time stamped
Speaker 4: at seven or six am to be precise, Sunday.
Speaker 2: What do you say happened?
Speaker 4: I say that I informed Louis that I had not slept.
Speaker 4: When Sunday, the morning of morning of the rehearsal. What
Speaker 4: time was the rehearsal scheduled for? It was not scheduled, Louis.
Speaker 2: What time was the rehearsal scheduled for?
Speaker 3: We had this general consensus that it would be late afternoon.
Speaker 5: At some point I object.
Speaker 2: What time was you flight out back to Sydney.
Speaker 4: My flight out to Sydney was one pm.
Speaker 2: Okay, Gina.
Speaker 4: The rehearsal had not been scheduled. It was a loose plan.
Speaker 2: Okay, what was the loose plan?
Speaker 4: In my mind? The plan was for us to meet
Speaker 4: at ten apam ten am and rehearsal one hour before
Speaker 4: I jetted off from Saint Kilda to the airport. Takes
Speaker 4: roughly one hour on a good day. We were going
Speaker 4: to meet at my house. I didn't say that we
Speaker 4: couldn't meet. I said, however, that I had not slept.
Speaker 2: Were you just bragging about the night before? What was
Speaker 2: the purpose of letting him know that.
Speaker 4: A bit of both, your honor, I was bragging, if
Speaker 4: I'm being real honest, all right.
Speaker 3: So Louis, what did you say immediately? It put me
Speaker 3: in the foulest mood of all time?
Speaker 2: Well, I couldn't understand you were left in the lurch
Speaker 2: and that you had a really significant performance. Three of
Speaker 2: them actually, and they do say failing to prepare is
Speaker 2: preparing to fail, exactly.
Speaker 5: Right, your honor.
Speaker 3: I'm like, not even an lie. I'm gonna put my
Speaker 3: hands up. I was a bit sassy, a bit juty
Speaker 3: over the text, kind of just like shutting it down,
Speaker 3: like it's fine, it's fine, because usually I'm quite an
Speaker 3: expressive texter. Straight away, Luciner was like, okay, something was up.
Speaker 3: So Lucinda then calls me and he's like, girl, like
Speaker 3: what's going on? And I was just like, listener, I'm
Speaker 3: gonna be honest with you. I'm just I'm a bit
Speaker 3: disappointed in your behavior, okay.
Speaker 2: And then well.
Speaker 3: Then I feel like Lucinda was kind of like, oh,
Speaker 3: but you can still come over, and I was like, girl,
Speaker 3: you literally haven't slept, and like, what are we going
Speaker 3: to do?
Speaker 2: Yeah, you just felt that it would be a waste
Speaker 2: of your time to go there. I mean, I don't
Speaker 2: know what she's been up to, but I'm guessing all
Speaker 2: night something kept her awake all night and on that basis, so,
Speaker 2: I mean, at some point she's going to want to sleep.
Speaker 2: What's the point of you taking the effort to go
Speaker 2: all the way there.
Speaker 3: Usually I'm a bit of a party gal, but I
Speaker 3: had stayed inside all weekend, prioritized the show over my
Speaker 3: social life, even though I was craving a night out
Speaker 3: on the town.
Speaker 2: So in anticipation of the rehearsal. You were a good
Speaker 2: girl and you stayed.
Speaker 5: Home completely judged Gina.
Speaker 2: Right, So you didn't quite have the same opportunities coming
Speaker 2: your ways as Lucinda may have had.
Speaker 3: Is that well, you could say I had sparser opportunities
Speaker 3: than Lucinda. Yes, of that weekend.
Speaker 2: So basically what you're telling me is, for the sake
Speaker 2: of a bit of romance, you'll ditch your friend. So
Speaker 2: that'd be right. I need all audio because we have
Speaker 2: an audience who can't see Louis what that expression means.
Speaker 2: So if you can verbalize it so for the transcript,
Speaker 2: we can record it.
Speaker 3: I just gestured in a very exasperated manner in agreement
Speaker 3: with you.
Speaker 2: Okay, Lucinda, what do you say about that?
Speaker 4: Well, Louis was supposed to come to my house and
Speaker 4: I sent him this photo. Gina, Well, I don't know
Speaker 4: what that is.
Speaker 2: Can you describe it? What's that you sleeping? I don't
Speaker 2: want to see that?
Speaker 3: What is that?
Speaker 2: What is that you showing me how tired you are?
Speaker 2: What is that at seven oh six am? Or is
Speaker 2: that just so the easy?
Speaker 3: That's Lucinda stumbling away from her potential suitors as the
Speaker 3: sun is rising.
Speaker 4: I was simply putting a face to a name and
Speaker 4: letting Louis know that I was awake and that I
Speaker 4: was on foot, and I said, it's giving. I haven't slept. Call.
Speaker 4: Do you want to come over at like twelve for
Speaker 4: a good solid hour? I really cooked it last night,
Speaker 4: but it was for a good cause.
Speaker 2: Well that doesn't sound right because your flight was at one,
Speaker 2: and as far as I'm aware, you need to beat
Speaker 2: the airport forty five minutes before that. So I don't
Speaker 2: think twelve o'clock's going to be an invitation for anybody
Speaker 2: other than to help you to the car with your luggage.
Speaker 5: Your mind is that powerful year on Earth.
Speaker 4: Kissarsing doesn't give you points, Lui, okay, so that's not
Speaker 4: a plan.
Speaker 2: This was the Sunday before the first show on the
Speaker 2: twenty eighth of April.
Speaker 5: Is that right correct?
Speaker 2: And what day is the twenty eighth of April. I'm
Speaker 2: just checking. It was a Friday, Friday, so you didn't
Speaker 2: have time between then and Friday to have another rehearsal.
Speaker 4: We did. We had it over Zoom.
Speaker 2: Well, that was my next question. So you did have
Speaker 2: a rehearsal over Zoom. Many actually yes, okay, when was that?
Speaker 4: I would say that was on Tuesday night, and then
Speaker 4: I returned to Melbourne on the Thursday. We had a
Speaker 4: rehearsal all day Thursday. We then had a rehearsal morning
Speaker 4: off the show on Friday, and then again Friday afternoon,
Speaker 4: and so multiple rehearsals.
Speaker 2: Sounds to me like you would have had those multiple
Speaker 2: rehearsals in any event, and that, in actual fact, Sunday
Speaker 2: wasn't your final opportunity, like you've said, that's what you've
Speaker 2: said to me, Louis, that that was your last chance, okay,
Speaker 2: face to face. But I mean, come on, we've all
Speaker 2: come out of lockdown and everybody's done everything remotely for
Speaker 2: a long time. I think we've sort of got our
Speaker 2: head around doing things.
Speaker 3: Reminds I'm just something about the vibe of being in person.
Speaker 2: I agree.
Speaker 3: I did feel like it was our final chance, because
Speaker 3: let's be honest, the next time we're going to see
Speaker 3: each other was like the day before the show, and
Speaker 3: by then, like you know.
Speaker 2: I get it, I'll get to frames. You're candasuing Louis
Speaker 2: for six hundred and ninety six dollars and ninety cents
Speaker 2: for the Sunday. Is it scaries, Yes, induced by feeling
Speaker 2: like a flaky friend when in actual fact you were
Speaker 2: getting does it say near it getting near it your
Speaker 2: honor as research for the show?
Speaker 3: Yes?
Speaker 2: Right? So did you did that rendezvous that encounter form
Speaker 2: part of your your repertoire at the.
Speaker 4: Show, both directly and indirectly. Definitely? It gave me a
Speaker 4: lust for life that really came across on stage and
Speaker 4: also provides me.
Speaker 2: Seven a week later, a week later, you were still.
Speaker 4: Yes, Gina, I go for long, long stretches.
Speaker 2: Okay, So you say that you want to count Sue
Speaker 2: Louis for six How did you quantify six hundred ninety
Speaker 2: six dollars and ninety cents with I just want to
Speaker 2: know about how you even got to ninety cents?
Speaker 3: What is that?
Speaker 2: So go and tell me what's the sixth.
Speaker 4: Ninety six, ninety nine sixty nine or sixty nine sixty nine?
Speaker 2: Ik? There you go. That's what you're asking.
Speaker 4: Are you familiar, Gina?
Speaker 2: Well no, not formiliar, but I know what you're talking about.
Speaker 2: So that's just you being a little bit crass. Okay,
Speaker 2: I don't think that just throwing a sixty nine and
Speaker 2: sixty nine is going to cut it in my court.
Speaker 2: I don't think that that's actually a quantification for anything
Speaker 2: other than just another opportunity for you to be a
Speaker 2: little bit and crass. So has anything like this happened
Speaker 2: before where either of you have let each other down
Speaker 2: or you know you've been distracted in any way?
Speaker 4: Well, Gina, I would say, I've been single for quite
Speaker 4: a long time now, and I believe that in the
Speaker 4: Maslow hierarchy of needs the shelter, air, water, and also
Speaker 4: physical touch, and so when opportunities are presented for me,
Speaker 4: I need to take those opportunities. And at times I
Speaker 4: have felt like Louis has dare I say in court,
Speaker 4: cock blocks me?
Speaker 2: Right, Okay, well we won't use that terminologies me. We're
Speaker 2: not going to use that language. I think you just
Speaker 2: preoccupied with something and you have to clear your mind
Speaker 2: and get focused.
Speaker 3: We are both single and ravenous and ravenue.
Speaker 4: At the moment, ravenous, your honor. The table in the
Speaker 4: studio looks like a penis and bulls, and so it's.
Speaker 3: Actually I will agree with plaintive frames that we are
Speaker 3: currently sitting on quite a phallicked table.
Speaker 2: Right, Okay, this is very much a distraction from the
Speaker 2: question that I asked, which is, has this ever happened
Speaker 2: before where either of you have let each other down?
Speaker 2: And somehow you've snuck in a cock block and a
Speaker 2: table that looks like a penis intestical. So I'm actually
Speaker 2: not sure who I'm talking to going on. Pull this
Speaker 2: right back. I mean, I don't know what Jenitale you've
Speaker 2: seen in your life, but I've got three dogs, two sons,
Speaker 2: and I've been married twice, so I think I've had
Speaker 2: a pretty good run of different genitalia and that does
Speaker 2: not look anything like what you're talking about. Okay, I've
Speaker 2: heard enough. I'm going to deliberate.
Speaker 1: Judge Gina is deliberating and will soon hand down her verdict.
Speaker 1: Please do not leave the courtroom.
Speaker 2: All right. So, to sum it up, Louis is suing
Speaker 2: Lacinda for negligence after she ditched a rehearsal for a
Speaker 2: love interest. Then we've got rooms. She would like to
Speaker 2: counterclaim six hundred and ninety six dollars and ninety cents.
Speaker 2: I'm going to reject the counterclaim of six hundred and
Speaker 2: ninety six dollars the claim of one thousand dollars. I'm
Speaker 2: going to deny on the basis that the performance went ahead,
Speaker 2: there were multiple rehearsals, and that at the end of
Speaker 2: the day, you should understand that your friends do what
Speaker 2: they do, and really you just have to accept that
Speaker 2: if you have a single girl who's dedicated to her
Speaker 2: career but likes to be a girl boss and go
Speaker 2: out that unfortunately, that's what she might be doing. So
Speaker 2: that's my decision and its final.
Speaker 3: I feel horrific about today's outcome. I really came in
Speaker 3: to this court case with my eyes on the prize
Speaker 3: and that was a cute, clean, sexy number. One thousand dollars.
Speaker 3: I feel like one thousand dollars is really the apt
Speaker 3: figure to counteract for the fact that I went through
Speaker 3: emotional turmoil.
Speaker 4: I believe that our disagreement has been settled for once
Speaker 4: and for all.
Speaker 3: I thought that Judge Gina was quite fair, albeit intimidating
Speaker 3: at times, but I.
Speaker 5: Truly love that for her. She is an icon. She
Speaker 5: is amazing.
Speaker 4: I think it's good for Louis to have somewhere to
Speaker 4: air his feelings and having someone like Judge Gina as
Speaker 4: a mediator is a blessing. So I think we should
Speaker 4: be very, very thankful for today's experience and what has
Speaker 4: transpired here.
Speaker 3: I think we're going to be fine. I think our
Speaker 3: relationship is going to be fine from here. She is
Speaker 3: a real one through and through and I love that girl.
Speaker 3: I just wanted money. I'm going to be honest.
Speaker 1: This has been an iHeart production.