Wikipedia is playing a central role in a lawsuit between a London venture capital firm, Ariadne Capital, and a public relations agency, Lansons Communications. Business Insider reported that Ariadne charged that a "botched attempt to improve" the Wikipedia article for Ariadne founder Julie Meyer "did its reputation more harm than good." Bloomberg News reported that Ariadne claimed Lansons' attempts at addressing the Wikipedia article resulted in accusations that Ariadne had attempted to "manipulate its own entry" and prompted "further negative updates on Wikipedia." The lawsuit charged that "this has caused and will cause further reputational damage which has led to lost opportunities and income."

The lawsuit alleges that an email was sent to "Wikipedia" and this email was posted on Talk:Julie Meyer. There is a message on that page signed by a self-identified Lansons employee, posted in 2014 by a London-based IP address. It seems unlikely that a Wikimedia Foundation employee or an OTRS volunteer would post a secondhand email to a talk page at all, much less using an IP address instead of their own account. It seems more likely that this "email" was actually a talk page message from that employee himself.

Regardless of the origin of the message, it is a sticking point in the lawsuit. Meyer told Bloomberg "To have an intern contact Wikipedia was not what we paid for". Lansons co-founder Tony Langham told Bloomberg it was "a joke lawsuit" prompted by Lansons' demand that Ariadne pay their "outstanding invoices". (Mar. 14) G