Amy Schumer has responded after social media users claimed she had stolen a joke she made about Leonardo DiCaprio at the Oscars.
Schumer hosted the 2022 Academy Awards towards the end of last month alongside Wanda Sykes and Regina Hall, and although there was one moment at the event that caused a big stir - I don't think I need to remind you about the slap - Schumer did succeed in making audience members gasp during the opening monologue.
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"Leonardo DiCaprio, what can I even say about him,” the comedian began. "He has done so much to fight climate change and leave behind a cleaner, greener planet for his girlfriends. Because he’s older and they are younger."
The joke prompted both laughter and cringing from the audience, but social media users later accused Schumer of stealing the joke, noting a Twitter user had shared a similar quip online last December.
Schumer addressed the allegations during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live this week, where she claimed she hadn't 'personally been on Twitter', suggesting she therefore could not have seen the joke.
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“I’ve had my assistant do it, just so I can remain alive and not kill myself," Schumer said. "And also, that joke was written by Suli McCullough. But I thank you guys, always, for making sure that I don’t start thievery."
The comedian sought to further prove her innocence by pointing out she had recently done a lie-detector test for Vanity Fair, in which she was asked if she had 'ever stolen a joke'.
Schumer responded "no", and the test returned a result to say she was telling the truth.
She continued: "So, everybody just chill. It’s crazy. I’m funny enough, I don’t need to steal s**t.”
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The comedian's lie-detector test took place just a few days after the Oscars and saw the interviewer note that 'coming up with new material is difficult'. As well as asking whether she had ever stolen a joke, they questioned the originality of her sketches and characters, before rephrasing and checking whether she had 'ever taken inspiration' for a joke from somebody else, to which Schumer also assured she had not.
Though Schumer has denied any plagiarism, her joke was notably similar to that shared on Twitter last year, which read: "Leonardo DiCaprio is so passionate about climate change because he wants to leave a better word for his girlfriends."
The joke has received hundreds of thousands of likes and retweets since it was posted on 23 December.
Featured Image Credit: Watch What Happens Live/AlamyTopics: Leonardo DiCaprio, Oscars, Celebrity, TV and Film
