A comedian is suing Conan O'Brien for allegedly pinching some one-liners from his Twitter page.
Conan O’Brien is being accused of ripping off jokes.
A comedy writer, Robert Alexander Kaseberg, is claiming that the late night TV host and his writing team stole jokes from his Twitter account and his blog with a few minor alterations. The writer says O’Brien apparently used the jokes in his opening monologue at least four times.
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Kasberg, a San Diego resident, filed the suit against Conan O’Brien, TBS, and others on the comic’s team for allegedly violating copywriting on four jokes.
One joke was an edgy gag about Caitlyn Jenner. The writer’s joke was: “Three streets named Bruce Jenner might have to change names. And one could go from a cul-de-sac- to a Cul-de-Sackless.”
Conan’s version went: “Some cities that have streets named after Bruce Jenner are trying to change the street names to Caitlyn Jenner. And if you live on Bruce Jenner Cul-de-Sac, it will now be called a Cul-de-no-Sac.”
Kasberg also says he wrote this gag: “A Delta flight from Cleveland to New York had just two passengers. And they fought over control of the armrest the entire time."
Conan’s joke went: “On Monday, a Delta flight from Cleveland to New York took off with just two passengers. Yet somehow, they spent the whole night fighting over the armrest.”
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In the federal lawsuit, Kaseberg is demanding $600,000 in damages. But does he have a leg to stand on?
Beth Karas told INSIDE EDITION: “What are the chances other people have written the same joke? They'll look at the time the writer Alex Kaseberg posted it tweeted it, versus, Conan O’Brien used it in his monologue. Maybe it’s close enough in time that will help the case.”
Conan's production company is denying any plagiarism, saying: " We at Conaco firmly believe there is no merit to this lawsuit.”
“It’s an uphill battle for him but not necessarily a losing one,” said Karas.
Kaseberg has been tweeting about the suit and the new attention he has been getting:
Vote for me early and often. San Diego writer's lawsuit claims Conan O'Brien stole his jokes http://t.co/ab4955On2h via @sdut
— Alex Kaseberg (@AlexKaseberg) July 28, 2015
How wild have these two days been? I bet I have Googled Conan O'Brien more than Conan O'Brien has Googled Conan O'Brien.
— Alex Kaseberg (@AlexKaseberg) July 29, 2015
New found fame is not easy. No matter how much I begged and begged this paparazzi guy, he absolutely refused to take my picture.
— Alex Kaseberg (@AlexKaseberg) July 29, 2015
Conan’s long-time sidekick Andy Richter took to Twitter to sarcastically respond to the lawsuit:
There's no possible way more than one person could have concurrently had these same species-elevating insights! THESE TAKES ARE TOO HOT!
— Andy Richter (@AndyRichter) July 27, 2015
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