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Maher: The Onion Stole My ‘Afterbirther’ Joke

The only problem: they made the joke first

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Apr 29, 2011 8:25 AM CDT

(Newser) – Now that President Obama has turned the birther movement into an even bigger punchline than it already was, it’s no wonder that a cackling Internet has been bandying about an Onion article headlined, “Afterbirthers Demand to See Obama’s Placenta.” Pretty funny, right? Well, Bill Maher wasn’t laughing. “I see The Onion stole my placenta joke that I did in Feb 2010 HBO special,” he tweeted.

There’s only one problem: the Onion piece is dated August 2009, Mediaite points out, adding that the joke is a bit too obvious to get possessive over anyway. The Daily Show made the exact same joke last night, RuPaul tweeted something similar, as did Eddie Rawls and a number of other comedians.

Bill Maher speaks on stage at the MusiCares Person of the Year gala honoring Barbra Streisand on Friday Feb. 11, 2011 in Los Angeles.
Bill Maher speaks on stage at the MusiCares Person of the Year gala honoring Barbra Streisand on Friday Feb. 11, 2011 in Los Angeles.   (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 25 comments
GibbysPub
May 1, 2011 7:57 PM CDT
Since Bill Maher retracted this tweet just two tweets later -- the same day -- and gave full props to The Onion, it would seem like someone could post an update to this non-story...
shonangreg3
Apr 29, 2011 9:28 PM CDT
Jokes can't be copyrighted. You can't steal what is available for free.
nevets
Apr 29, 2011 1:39 PM CDT
The Onion article was from 2009. The Maher special was in 2010. I'm not sure how Maher thinks the Onion stole his joke, but it seems more likely that it's the other way around.
 

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