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 36 of 37)
526. All you morons who have an opinion one way or the other realize this is a joke, right? Please tell me you do...
whsmacon at 9:22AM on Sep 21st 2007
527. Perhaps you boys could just whip out your penises and measure them. This is nothing more than a big dick contest. Pathetic. You can't possibly believe that you were the first person to come up with that joke. What an ego!!
Home Grown American at 9:21AM on Sep 21st 2007
528. 65 MIL.? WOW. You could buy the dry cleaner that was sued for losing a pair of pants. Then you could clean your pants.
Chris at 9:41AM on Sep 21st 2007
529. Your Klingon yell is not a Klingon yell, I believe it was from BraveHeart. So, that being said, I I think Colbert has it up on you for actually using a Klingon.
Jim at 8:54PM on Sep 21st 2007
530. Did you actually get a US patent for that joke?
Guy at 2:30PM on Sep 23rd 2007
531. Do you need some money? Seriously? Why don't you just go out and beg for it like a respectable vagrant?
Seth at 11:17AM on Sep 21st 2007
532. See, I think there should be a distinction made here.
When Uygur made the joke, it wasn't funny. When Colbert made the joke it was funny.
I think the rights to the joke should go to the funnier, in this case congrats Mr. Colbert.
lillei55 at 3:09PM on Sep 21st 2007
533. ok, so maybe this dude did the joke first, but let's face it, he's not very good at it. colbert did it much more professionally and with actual klingons - the audio sample this guy plays of the dude shouting in a foreign language is in fact NOT klingon, but old German - it's from the beginning of gladiator and is actually a germanian visigoth shouting at the romans.
so yeah, maybe you did do it first, but who cares? it's obviously just a publicity stunt, but its so poorly put together it's really just going to convince people to stay well away from your show and wait till other people steal your ideas to do them much better, and with relevant source material.
fail
lord mogfather at 7:23PM on Sep 21st 2007
534. Dude, you stupid asshole, ANYONE couldve made that joke as a reaction. The HONOR Klingon jokes have been around since Klingons, ALOT of editors and comedy writers would make that connection not just you you pretentious fucking twat. You are seriously just trying to ruin a better comedians reputation and get some money out of it.
James at 2:39AM on Sep 22nd 2007
535. It's quite obvious what's going on here. This Turkish nobody is trying to get his 15 minutes that he was never granted with his shitty little T.V. show only old people in retirement homes watch in syndication at midnight when their sleeping pills have failed to have an effect. Fuck you, you worthless fat piece of shit and stop trying to chew off a morsel of fame from the Great Stephen Colbert just to get some tail from a woman who isn't your mother for once. And that $65 million joke you think is so funny, we all know it's a ploy for you to finally get some real money your unknown show can never grant you. Fuck you Turkish piece of shit and LONG LIVE STEPHEN COLBERT!
Gautam Kumar at 10:10AM on Sep 22nd 2007
536. Totally different concepts and Colbert's was actually funnier.
Air America? Wasnt that a movie with Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr.?
JacobSteep at 1:44PM on Sep 22nd 2007
537. I swear for someone who thinks he's stupid, your showing that your just like him by the responses being made to this post.
Have any of you nimwads ever heard of HUMOR and/or SARCASM, of the phrase "TONGUE IN CHEEK".
Do you really believe that he is being serious about suing another commentator over a darn joke?
GROW UP!
And I watched both posts. As much as I think Colbert is a nerdy little sweetie pie. His wasn't funnier, if funny at all than the one from TYT. In my opinion.
You all need to lighten up, take the sticks out of your you know what and relax.
This site is known for its humor and light hearted take on all things serious and he's just showing that.
Jeez. Learn how to laugh once in a while. No wonder the situation going on here is so dire. Bunch of anal retentive fools.
Summer at 4:20AM on Sep 23rd 2007
538. You should be ashamed.
You didn't come up with the idea of Klingons. In addition, your attempt at humor was terrible. Colbert's joke was actually funny, and didn't even resemble your joke.
I can't believe you are trying to soil Colbert's good name over this. I hope this lawsuit gets thrown right back into your face.
whatsaidjim at 1:11PM on Sep 24th 2007
539. Cenk- No offense, Colberts clip was funny. I hope your litigation threat is a joke but sorry, its not funny either.
Oh, and as an aside, its not actionable either.
Steve Seivers at 8:26AM on Sep 25th 2007
540. Aside from the fact that Colbert was actually funny, any Star Trek fan would pick up on the honor factor.
...watching you made me a little sad, actually..
Good luck with not sucking in the future.
J. McGregor at 6:28PM on Sep 27th 2007