You can see the stolen joke in this video (warning, profanity in the video):
And this press release explains all the sordid details of Stephen Colbert's thievery:
Air America Host Sues Stephen Colbert for $65 Million
SEPTEMBER 19, 2007 (LOS ANGELES, CA) Cenk Uygur, host of Air America's morning show "The Young Turks" is suing Stephen Colbert of "The Colbert Report"for $65 million. Mr. Uygur charges that Mr. Colbert has stolen his jokes on many occasions, but he can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that his "Klingon joke" of September 7th was directly pilfered by Mr. Colbert and recycled on his September 11th program on Comedy Central.
Mr. Uygur is considering adding Comedy Central, MTV Networks, Viacom, Bus Boy Productions, the head of Bus Boy Productions, Jon Stewart, to his lawsuit. Anyone and everyone related to stealing the aforementioned joke should "lawyer up" according to Mr. Uygur.
Mr. Uygur explained, "Today's word is: lawsuit."
He added, "As OJ would say, 'Think you can steal my sh**? Up against the wall mother f**ker.' I couldn't have said it better myself, that's why I didn't; I just quoted him instead."
As to the large sum of money sought in compensatory and punitive damages, Uygur explained, "If a pair of lost pants is worth $65 million, then my jokes are worth a hell of a lot more. How do you value the gift of laughter? I think the Mastercard commercials nailed it. Priceless!"
Uygur added, "Except this time it has a price and it's $65 million."
Then Uygur added, "Look, he's messing with my livelihood. That's how I put food on my kid's table. If I had kids, that's definitely where I would put the food. Plus, my girlfriend won't have sex with me anymore because she says I've lost my sense of humor. I told her I didn't lose it, it was stolen. I looked it up, they have a legal word for it: it's called loss of consortium. That means no more hanky-panky and it costs big time in lawsuit world."
Uygur added, "I have nothing further to add."
Since the joke was stolen in California, the suit will be filed in the state of California with California laws controlling. Since the joke was transmitted across state lines and used in New York , there might be federal charges as well.
Irrefutable visual proof of the stolen Klingon joke can be found on "The Young Turks" website at http://www.theyoungturks.com/story/2007/9/19/1163/40077. Uygur added, "It is irrefutable."
"The Young Turks" airs live on nationally syndicated Air America Radio and XM Satellite Radio, Monday - Friday, 6:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. ET. The program also streams simultaneously as a first of its kind live video show on http://www.theyoungturks.com."The Young Turks" is hosted by Cenk Uygur, who is also known for his blogs on The Huffington Post and AOL's News bloggers. Recent guest on"The Young Turks" include Senator John Kerry, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Jimmy Carter, Reverend Jesse Jackson, conservative pundit Mary Matalin, NBC's Brian Williams, ABC's Sam Donaldson, Actor Matt Dillon, General Wesley Clark, Ralph Nader, Pat Buchanan, amongst numerous others.
Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 37)
1. Good luck with that, Cenk. It's a damn good joke.
Colbert will still go down in history as oddest and most effective media phenomena to hit the political scene, ever (sorry Jon, you are still my Cronkite!). We'll someday put his face on on some sort of money, but if you want to settle for the $65 mil, that's OK too.
BTW-I'm #1, I'm #1!!
tom at 4:55PM on Sep 19th 2007
2. See that? I am #1. Oh shit, now I'm #2. Wait, wait. I'm #s 1 and 2!
I'd like to thank the academy, my dogs and my wife!
And you Cenk, for giving me this wonderful opportunity to show my #1ness!! I love you guys, really! Thank you, thank you. Really, I must go now. No, really, I must go, don't want to hog the limelight. Wow! Really, I must go now. Thank you.
tom at 5:00PM on Sep 19th 2007
3. Turkish Jihad? lol
Colbert cooked Uygur's Turkey. Now's Uygur is going to make sure he get paid for it
kam at 5:01PM on Sep 19th 2007
4. Star Trek should sue you both for the use of Klingons in your jokes. Nice try at getting some publicity. Live long and prosper!
speaking of Klingon jokes: (please don't sue me)
Why did Captain Kirk buy a million rolls of toilet paper?
To fight the Klingons from Uranus
Johnny A at 5:39PM on Sep 19th 2007
5. He may have used the same general concept but he definitely had his own material for the joke. I highly doubt he even listens to your show and anyone who watched Star Trek (which I'm sure some of his writers did) would probably have drawn the same conclusions. Also, notice that I said "his writers" in the previous sentence? He has a team of writers that work on that show, so it may not even be him who wrote the joke.
If you could be sued for stealing a joke than Dane Cook would be out of a job and so would every famous African-American comedian after Bill Cosby.
This is just a cry for attention from a hack who can't get a real gig.
Donald G at 5:50PM on Sep 19th 2007
6. you fail it, he didnt steal shyte from you, you're both aging nerds with similar senses of humor, I made the same joke to myself as I was watching the debates in my living room, did I steal it from you to, grow (and shut) the f**k up as*h*le
D at 6:15PM on Sep 19th 2007
7. dude you suck... since I've been reading this blog i've been able to see your side of things, even if it can get a little wacky at times. Face it dude Colbert is awesome and you run a small time radio show that no one listens to.
America has your back Colbert!!!!
Matt at 6:20PM on Sep 19th 2007
8. Cenk Uygur is just trying to get rich the easy way and see his fifteen minutes of fame, hopefully Andy Warhol wont sue me for saying that. It was a funny joke that should be your credit, horray. now shut your mouth and let it go.
vibronicjunk at 6:26PM on Sep 19th 2007
9. Colbert sucks, hope this gets him off the air... Geo
geo at 7:00PM on Sep 19th 2007
10. Colbert didnt steal a thing, they may be about the same thing but really they are totally used in different ways, nice publicity stunt asshole
Sean at 7:10PM on Sep 19th 2007
11. The real thing that's going to be tough for you, Cenk, is proving anyone on the planet heard you say that joke. However, if you by chance win, maybe Gene Roddenberry should get the 65 Million? After all maybe he created the Klingons as a joke on Pro-war factions. It was the 60's.
Mel at 7:14PM on Sep 19th 2007
12. it's hardly "irrefutable" ... 2 people engaged at the same by different employers job picking up on quite a similar concept at nearly the same time is what i see - in addition to the obvious attempt at attention grabbing.....it is nearly embarrassing to watch you "present" your "evidence" against your furor of conviction expressed in so unecessarily vulgar terms. (i'm at a loss there: do you think that makes you funnier? i found it repulsive) - not the least vulgarity being how often one imagines you have railed against abusive frivilous litigation under equally as obvious and suspect circumstances....does this mean you will no longer rant against other such "suits." --- short version : you're making a fool of yourself and undermining whatever thoughtful, intelligent work might otherwise come from the venue wherein you are currently employed....if i were you, i'd find a way to turn this into a great gag - and soon.
elizabeth at 8:06PM on Sep 19th 2007
13. re "2 people engaged at the same by different employers " has a word omitted : the sentence needs to read : "2 people engaged in the same profession by different employers ..."
elizabeth at 8:11PM on Sep 19th 2007
14. That's it!
That's Booosh's plan... to sue all the comedians for stealing his material...
... now he'll sue you to for pre-empting his patented 'stragedy'.
pboyfloyd at 8:20PM on Sep 19th 2007
15. Wow, except for Tom (he's #1!and #2!), and maybe that last guy(his post was a bit 'wordy',I thought so I didn't make it quite to the end), these guys think you are being serious. Whatta bunch of maroons! Unbelievable.
Be sure to watch for my new show,'Retard Nation' starring......(drum roll)......(more drum rolling)...YOU!
tom at 9:37PM on Sep 19th 2007