Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson is in a legal row with Turkey over whether the character Gollum is good or bad. Dr. Bilgin Çiftçi is accused of insulting the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after he shared an image comparing Erdogan’s facial expressions with the gollum!

The case reached a court in south-western Turkey that asked for an expert to investigate whether such a comparison is an insult, reported the local media on Wednesday. Turkish lawyers aruged that the Gollum is not a bad character so as not to be accused of insulting Erdogan.

Jackson issued a joint statement with screenwriters Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens on Thursday stating that the images in question were not the “small, slimy” Gollum described by JRR Tolkien but the “joyful, sweet” Smeagol. Gollum was a Smeagol in the fantasy novel series before becoming corrupted by the One Ring.

Like other heroes, hobbits Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, the Gollum is a victim of the powerful magic ring that has twisted his body and mind.

“If the images below are in fact the ones forming the basis of this Turkish lawsuit, we can state categorically: none of them feature the character known as Gollum. All of them are images of the character called Smeagol,” said the director and film-makers. “Smeagol is a joyful, sweet character. Smeagol does not lie, deceive, or attempt to manipulate others. He is not evil, conniving, or malicious — these personality traits belong to Gollum, who should never be confused with Smeagol.”

“Smeagol would never dream of wielding power over those weaker than himself. He is not a bully. In fact he’s very loveable. This is why audiences all over the world have warmed to his character.”