Amy Schumer Vows to Take Polygraph to Prove She Didn’t Steal Jokes
Amy Schumer's not taking accusations that she stole jokes from fellow comedians Tammy Pescatelli, Kathleen Madigan, Wendy Liebman and Patrice O'Neal lightly: To prove her innocence, she's vowed to take a polygraph test and post the unedited result on a forthcoming episode of Inside Amy Schumer.
Yesterday, a Vimeo user named Joe Schmo posted a clip that pairs jokes Schumer has made on her Comedy Central sketch show and HBO special, Live at the Apollo, against very similar jokes told years earlier by some of her peers. In one segment, Schumer appears to repeat a joke about unusual sex positions previously delivered by O'Neal; in another, she seems to turn two of Madigan's jokes into a pair of sketches about losing weight in unusual ways.
Amy Schumer is a Joke Thief from joe schmo on Vimeo.
Schumer jumped to defend herself on Twitter, noting "On my life, I have never and would never steal a joke," and continued dismiss claims on Jim Norton's Sirius XM show. During the conversation, she said she believes Pescatelli drummed up the controversy because of previous tension between the two. She also noted she's been friendly with Liebman, Madigan and the late O'Neal, and respects their material too much to steal it.
"I think [Pescatelli's] upset I blocked her on Twitter a couple years ago because she was unkind to my best friend, Rachel Feinstein, and I didn't like how she treated Rachel, and I'm a very loyal friend," she said. "I don't think she's got much going on, this is my guess."
Schumer said she used to open for Pescatelli on the road in 2007, and that if Pescatelli indeed planted the video or jump-started defamatory conversation, it's just a subject of the "human condition."
"I think people get upset by success," she said. "I think it makes sense: You see someone that you used to identify with, and now all of a sudden you think 'Oh, I don't think I like her anymore. She's doing too well.'"
Schumer also said she'll do whatever it takes to clear her name.
"I'm literally gonna take a polygraph test and put it on my show this season," she said. "I promise, whatever the results are, I won't let them cut. I will show that I had never seen Patrice do that bit. I've definitely never seen Tammy Pescatelli do that bit...Like, I sat on that bit for nine years?"
Listen to the segments above, and tell us what you think of the accusations against Schumer.
Look back at Amy Schumer's wackiest sketch characters: