Cease and Desist 6: 19 August 2026

I refuse, under any and all circumstances, to portray Paul McCartney for Sony or Disney. Sir Paul wants me to do a small amount of motion capture work for WingNut. While you keep framing me as a mere impersonator, I sing brilliantly in other styles. Amanda Happens To The Beatles is the opposite of your stalled production. You tried to make second-rate covers that were essentially note for note. I arranged them cleverly: Paul hated Backbeat, but he likes my work. - My original compositions cannot be validated by forcing me to premiere them. Other composers of similar stature seldom, if ever, play their own pieces. MPL has an agreement in principle to acquire my entire catalogue. Bullying me isn't going to result in the NZSO premiering my work. Cameron Mackintosh will also find that he's locked out of the buying process... - Weeded Out is dead. I refuse to perform Just Like Yesterday on stage. I'm willing to read from my book, but that is all. You have had three years to persuade me, and I have constantly refused. My mind will not be changed by more harassing insults. If you have failed to produce it in three years where you supposedly had the right to, then you have clearly defrauded the NZ film industry. I refuse to sing or perform in stage productions unless it's with my collaborators. Wannabes need to write their own plays of a similar quality. - I'm still waiting for a full retraction and a formal apology over the 2026 Stuff article. My boycott of Wellington's cultural life will remain in place until this occurs. If I'm not mistaken, that article put all the defamatory rumours into one press piece. The retraction must be as widely seen as the initial article, which is why I'm suggesting that they write a new profile piece that covers the defamation and puts it into context as part of the ongoing harassment case I've been developing with the NZ police. Victoria University of Wellington will need to settle with me regarding their role in this. - Why? Because Sir Paul and I are likely to bring the gravy train in for Wellington. Three films costing over $100 million total are likely to be produced here. Why? Sir Peter wants to keep the lights on at Wētā, and has been planning for years. You're the ones that are coming in later and threatening him (and me). We could easily generate half a billion dollars of spending. As a result, I expect Wellington to promptly apologise for harassing me. To continue in this vein would put my life at risk, which isn't in anyone's best interest. Yours sincerely, Amanda Riddell