This morning, reports emerged in the press that Mother, which created the cuddly toy to front ITV Digital's advertising, wanted Monkey to become the face of Comic Relief to avoid a lengthy custody battle between it and Deloitte.
Deloitte spokeswoman Emma Thoroughgood said: "As much as we would like him to be used by a charitable organisation, it is not possible at the moment. Monkey is regarded as one of ITV Digital's assets and has not been sold off yet. Until this has been resolved, we can not let him be used."
Soon after ITV Digital went into administration on March 27, a number of companies including Kwik Save and the makers of Diamond White Cider, Matthew Clark, said they would put in an offer to recruit the stuffed toy.
The toy, which was given away to new ITV Digital subscribers, was fetching as much as £100 on auction site eBay until a warehouse full of Monkeys was discovered by Deloitte.
However, it has remained unclear who actually owns the rights to the stuffed toy, and Mother, in conjuction with the character's creator The Jim Henson Company, has been locked in a dispute with Deloitte over custody of Monkey.
Meanwhile, administrator Deloitte is obliged to recover as much money as it can from the remaining ITV Digital assets to pay off its suppliers such as BSkyB.
However, it can not sell the toy until ownership of Monkey has been settled in the courts, which is why Mother suggested he be donated to charity.
Monkey shot to fame in a series of TV commercials in which he appeared with comedian Johnny Vegas, who is not the subject of a custody battle.
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