Naked Cowboy

Meet the Naked Cowboy. He’s the scantily dressed country singing, guitar playing busker usually found in Times Square, New York and currently embroiled in a legal battle with the “Naked Cowgirl” after she “copied his look”.

The story goes that cowboy Robert Burck, who earns up to US$1000 per day from busking in his jocks and a Stetson, has sued cowgirl Sandy Kane, who also performs in the Square wearing only a bikini while playing the guitar, after accusing her of stealing his idea, a significant proportion of his profits and “sullying” his name.

New York Daily News reports Burck’s lawyer has accused Kane, an ex-stripper of “devaluing an American brand and Icon” and the “wholesome nature” of the show through her own cowgirl style antics.  According to the lawsuit she “has been observed using visual profanity (flipping the bird at the camera) when photographing with people in Times Square,”  in a manner that is “inconsistent” with the way “the Naked Cowboy conducts business.”

Burck says despite asking Kane several times over a period of two years for a franchising fee, she had ignored all his requests: “I’m an easy going guy, but this was really a last resort,” he said.  Whatever the outcome of the lawsuit, there’s got to be a country song in that somewhere…