LOST's Matt "MAYHEM" Biolos has sued Lady Gaga!
"I started drawing this logo in 1986 when I was in high school," explains Matt Biolos of Lost Surfboards. "I originally created it for my band—ironically, that was the name. I used it on flyers, t-shirts, punk rock shows, parties, and battle of the bands in my school auditorium. I started putting it on surfboards in 1987, and I've used it as a surfboard label ever since. In 1991, Mike and I officially registered the company in the U.S. and started selling Mayhem t-shirts. It's really been my whole life. We've become synonymous with surfboard shapes, performance boards, and a full apparel line that we've sold not only here, but everywhere around the world for over 30 years." EXCLUSIVE: Matt Biolos Explains Why He's Suing Lady Gaga
"We're not making money, we're protecting something sacred from being swallowed up by the capitalism of stadium tours."
In one of those strange crossovers between surf culture and mainstream pop, San Clemente-based surfboard shaper Matt “Mayhem” Biolos, the man behind …Lost Surfboards, is suing Lady Gaga.
Yes, that Lady Gaga. Oscar-nominated actress. Grammy-winning pop star. Fashion cyborg. And now, unexpectedly, she's the defendant in a trademark lawsuit brought by a man who's been massaging rails and cutting rocker lines for 40 years.
This is the kind of story that makes you want to double-check the date to make sure it's not April 1st.
But the lawsuit is real: The eight-time women's world champion and two-time Olympic gold medal-winning shaper is suing the pop star.
And at the heart of the lawsuit is the word "MAYHEM."
The problem? Gaga's new album is called "Mayhem," and that word appears on the T-shirts, hats, and hoodies from her merchandise line, which is already plastered across social media and e-commerce channels. The design? It bears a striking resemblance to the Mayhem arch logo that Biolos began drawing in a high school notebook in 1986.
"I started drawing the logo for punk band flyers and T-shirts in high school," Bioros told Stab, "and in '87 I started putting it on surfboards. I registered the company in 1991. I've been making and selling Mayhem clothing for over 30 years. It's my life."
The visual connection between Gaga's merch and surf brands is no coincidence: Mayhem's album artwork was created by EU-based creative director and graphic designer Brody Kaman, whose grunge-leaning DIY aesthetic is deeply rooted in subcultural iconography—where, incidentally, Biolos has lived for decades.
Judging by the 742 accounts he follows on Instagram, there doesn't seem to be much common ground in the surfing world. What you make of that is up to you.
"At first, it was just her album cover, and I thought, 'Well, it's a word. There's a guy in my insurance company named Mayhem,'" Bioros explains. "But then I started looking at T-shirts and sweatshirts and hats, and I saw 'Gaga Mayhem' written in a very familiar arch. That was a red flag."
In other words, if you want to name an album Mayhem, that's fine, but once you start selling merchandise that spans the same commercial category with decades of trademark precedent, you're stepping into legal territory.
"We've trademarked the name Mayhem on t-shirts, hats, sandals, sweatshirts, surfboards, skateboards, snowboards, and surf accessories," Biolos says. "It doesn't matter if it's Helvetica or Comic Sans. If it says Mayhem on a t-shirt, that's copyright infringement. The font is secondary."
When Bioros' team contacted Gaga's lawyers to try to resolve the matter quietly, they were—in his words—"ignored."
"They basically told us, 'You're not a big deal. We won't even acknowledge you,'" he says.
Gaga is currently being represented by one of pop culture's most highly paid lawyers, Orin Snyder, who has represented Bob Dylan, Jerry Seinfeld, David Letterman, Elton John, Mariah Carey, LeBron James, Jennifer Lopez, Bruce Springsteen and Mark Zuckerberg.
Any statements to the press?
"It's unfortunate, but not surprising, that someone is now trying to capitalize on her success with a baseless lawsuit..."
Bioros doesn't believe that.
"This is just some powerful New York lawyers trying to cover their own ass," he said. "We contacted them in good faith. They ignored us. Now they're reporting us as if we're trying to make money. We're not. We're trying to protect what we've built."
Matt explained that TMZ and other media outlets picked up the story after the lawsuit was publicly filed: "We filed for an injunction to stop her from making apparel and using our trademark on apparel. It's a public lawsuit. So someone dug it up. TMZ might have a team of 20-year-olds who are just looking for something."
But this time, the headlines aren't going anywhere. The lawsuit is real. And Bioros isn't backing down.
"In a perfect world, we'd ask them to stop," he says. "Stop making merchandise with our trademark. We're not telling her not to make music, but when she's on a 50-stop tour and selling 10,000 Mayhem T-shirts in one night... that's a problem."
This isn't just about Gaga's tour merchandise, it's about what happens when a megastar takes over a brand on a massive scale.
"When I left SoFi Stadium after the show, there were 30 trucks full of her merchandise lined up. $60 T-shirts with my name on them. And there were bootleggers in the parking lot selling fakes for $10. I don't want to see anything with my logo on it."
Matt is no stranger to trademark battles: When the hit ABC show "Lost" tried to launch a clothing line in the early 2000s, Biolos and his partner, Mike Leola, fought back—and won.
“They were more friendly, we had them make one shirt, but they had the whole thing planned and it was all taken down.
"We were on the other side of this deal, too," Mayhem continues. "We jokingly bought a Miller Light beer and copied it and wrote 'Mayhem's Lost Surfboard' on it. Then we got a letter from Anheuser-Busch or somewhere saying, 'You can't do that. It's too similar to our logo. It's clearly a copyright infringement.' We said, 'Well, it was just a joke.' But they had the legal upper hand, so we stopped."
So is this just a joke, or is Mayhem taking Gaga seriously?
"We're a boutique brand at our core," Biolos says. "In the surfing world, Mayhem means something. If Gaga were to turn it into a fashion gimmick for a pop tour, it would dilute everything we've built. We're not going to let that happen."
Matt says he's open to whatever the outcome of the legal process (including a potential settlement) may be, but that's not the end goal.
"This isn't about trying to squeeze a cut out of Gaga. It's not about the money," he said. "This is about protecting the identity and authenticity of our work. Mike and I have poured 35 years into this. It's everything to us. We intend to protect it."
Bioros tells us that the reason Stab in the Dark star Kolohe Andino rebranded his clothing line 2% to Steco is because of a trademark dispute with a clothing brand that goes by the same name.
"This happens all the time, and it's happened on a smaller scale. You have to protect yourself. Recently some MMA guys started making T-shirts that said Mayhem Gear, and they had no idea. I'm like, 'No, no, no, no. You can't do that.' Stop it."
Yes, Matt Biolos is suing Lady Gaga, in what may be one of surf's most high-profile legal battles in history, in a world where surf brands rarely transcend the realm of pop culture.
Even though Gaga didn't know who Matt Biolos was before,
I definitely know now.
Reference translation from the following site
NEWS // MAR 26, 2025
WORDS BY ETHAN DAVIS & MICHAEL CIARAMELLA
READING TIME: 5 MINUTES
https://stabmag.com/news/matt-biolos-explains-why-hes-suing-lady-gaga/
