James Corden just issued a public statement after a mash-up of him telling a joke went viral, with fans accusing him of ripping off fellow comedian Ricky Gervais.
The “Late Late Night” host admitted that the joke came from Gervais first.
“Inadvertently told a brilliant Ricky Gervais joke on the show last night, obviously not knowing it came from him,” Corden shared on Twitter. “It’s brilliant, because it’s a Ricky Gervais joke. You can watch all Ricky’s excellent specials on Netflix. J x.”
Inadvertently told a brilliant Ricky Gervais joke on the show last night, obviously not knowing it came from him. It’s brilliant, because it’s a Ricky Gervais joke. You can watch all Ricky’s excellent specials on Netflix. J x
— The Late Late Show with James Corden (@latelateshow) November 1, 2022
The replies on his confession tweet were limited to mentions only.
Corden was responding to the compilation user Paul Anthony made of Gervais telling the joke along with the late night host telling it. “Plagiarism? I don’t know what people are talking about, these two jokes by @JKCorden and @rickygervais are barely similar,” he wrote in the caption.
The joke is about someone putting up an ad offering guitar lessons on a public bulletin board and then becoming angry because they don’t personally want to take lessons. It was done as a comparison to Elon Musk taking over Twitter.
Plagiarism? I don’t know what people are talking about, these two jokes by @JKCorden and @rickygervais are barely similar pic.twitter.com/9kYOHiOiLj
— Paul Anthony (@PaulFI9) November 1, 2022
“Elon Musk talks about Twitter and goes ‘Well it’s the town square.’ I’m like, ‘But it isn’t.'” Corden said during his monologue. “Because if someone puts up a poster in the town square that says ‘guitar lessons available’ you don’t get people in the town going ‘I don’t want to play guitar! I want to play the piano.'”
“Well then that sign wasn’t for you!” Corden says in his bit, while Gervais also says, “Fine, it’s not for you then. Just walk away.”
Within a few hours, the clip had two million views. Gervais addressed the incident on Twitter but has since deleted his tweet. The original joke came from Gervais’ 2018 stand-up special “Humanity.”
Many followers pointed out that Corden wasn’t likely the person who wrote the joke, but rather one of the “Late Late Show” employees was responsible for copying Gervais.
“So many people blaming Corden for this as if he writes his own jokes. He has a whole team of writers on that show. Obviously one of them ripped it off. Joke wasn’t even very funny,” one person observed.
“I know Corden is very unlikely to have written this bit himself: this snafu is a good opportunity for him to take responsibility & not throw the person who wrote his script under a bus,” another wrote.