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 2 of 37)
16. No, seriously tom, what else could Bush's plan be?
pboyfloyd at 9:42PM on Sep 19th 2007
17. $65 million? Wow. You can't possibly be serious. But, you got my attention. Although, I am thinking that the amount of the damage claim has to be directly proportional to the size of one's audience. How many people are listening to Air-America anyway? I thought they went under. Maybe they'll find the "liberal Rush." It's just a matter of time, you know.
Dave at 10:18PM on Sep 19th 2007
18. I didn't think he was serious, and I refuse to be called a maroon. LOL
Mel at 10:44PM on Sep 19th 2007
19. It's amazing how people like PBO manage to change just about any topic you can possibly imagine into a discussion about George W Bush. (A little therapy might help with that.)
Dave at 11:01PM on Sep 19th 2007
20. Maybe you said it first but Colbert said it better and funnier -- and with a real Klingon!
Vicki at 11:56PM on Sep 19th 2007
21. Cenk, I think a (NO)-Class action suit should be filed against you for your repeated attempt to steal and destroy our brain cells.
lizard at 1:21AM on Sep 20th 2007
22. Air American still desperate for money?
With Colbert telling your jokes, you should be happy that now someone will listen to your joke, Colbert has an audience.
The only thing with lower ratings than Congressis Air America
robert okane at 1:38AM on Sep 20th 2007
23. re#13 : "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".......guess what? the world has this other population called, "women"....(a hint can be gleaned by the name given at the bottom of the extremely long 12 lines i've written.) many of whom are capable of reading a whole 12 lines without getting bored and having to get back to their bowl of cheerios and tivo.
elizabeth at 2:16AM on Sep 20th 2007
24. PS as you are deeply connected in your relationship to this "guy on tv" you are in a much better position to "know" whether he is "serisous" or not. i simply responded to a blog that happened to flash by as i was on the internet, reading - this being my primary source of information and entertainment as i have no tv.
elizabeth at 2:31AM on Sep 20th 2007
25. Cenk said "don't steal my shit." He hit the nail right on the head. You can that a joke??.....I think "shit" is a better characterization. Get a real job, Cenk....if you're capable.
Michael at 9:26AM on Sep 20th 2007
26. He is blaffing. Does he has the copyright on jokes!!! He is making a parody of Rather's law suit against CBS. Go Dan, break their balls!!! Replacing you with Couric is like replacing Steve with this Young Turd sorry, Turk.
JOn for Prez-Steve VP at 9:48AM on Sep 20th 2007
27. John is apparently the last viewer left in America who thinks Rather has any credibility. And "baffling" seems like a pretty good word to describe anyone who actually believes Dan Rather.
I also think a third lawsuit would be in order: a class action suit by the public against Dan for insulting our intelligence by trying to foist phony, concocted news stories on us all while passing himself off as an objective and respected journalist. Please. Couric is an improvement.
Dave at 10:22AM on Sep 20th 2007
28. Wow, this whole thing seems like a pretty decent waste of time.
This is a joke people, think about it.
Its like Cenk said "OMG i sayd it frst u n00b, omg u sukzor LOLOLOLOLOLOL"
This is almost like 2 children saying "I said it first!!!" "Nuh uh!!!" "Yes huh!!!!!!"
Guy at 10:27AM on Sep 20th 2007
29. Nice try for some publicity. Too bad several of these morons think you're serious.
Jeffrey Glover at 11:26AM on Sep 20th 2007
30.
As I read some of the comments here, I no longer doubt the validity of the intelligence decline across America blatantly displayed by the new girl on the View. God Bless America indeed...
ExFactor at 11:58AM on Sep 20th 2007