Ryan Gosling accused of stealing joke from Bill Hader 'not thinking he'd get caught'

Ryan Gosling has been accused of 'stealing a joke' from Bill Hader as eagle-eyed viewers spot a very similar punchline.

The 'I'm Just Ken' star has been promoting the film alongside Barbie's Margot Robbie ahead of this year's Academy Awards, which took place earlier this month.

During a chat with W Magazine in January, the pair were clearly full of 'Kenergy' as they bounced off each other with silly quips and jokes.

Along with a host of questions, the interviewer asked the duo: "What movie makes you cry? I ask everyone this question and The Notebook is the number one movie that makes people cry."

"Really, not Elephant Man?" replied Gosling, referencing the 1980 biopic featuring Anthony Hopkins and John Hurt, whose character Joseph Merrick is born with a congenital disorder while living in London in the late 19th century.

Dr. Frederic Treves, played by Hopkins, brings Merrick into his home, before he passes away at 27.

Back to the conversation, the interviewer replies to Gosling: "No, not even close, are you kidding?"

"Elephant Man would be mine," insists the Barbie star.

He then jokes: "It's too sad though. One time I saw it in the theatre and halfway through when Elephant Man got these brushes and he was going to give them back and this lady screamed.

"The guy behind me went 'get her Elephant Man'. And I realised that he thought he was that like Wolf Man or something.

"It was like he'd been enduring the saddest thing ever, he's just like 'get her Elephant Man'."

While the joke was pretty funny, fans have been quick to point out how they've heard it before.

During a 2020 podcast episode of Eli Roth's History of Horror: Uncut, it seems as if comedian and guest Bill Hader made a very similar joke.

Hader said in the podcast: "A friend of mine told me, he saw Elephant Man in the theatre and there was a scene when Elephant Man's talking to the singer, woman, and it's [a] very sweet, gentle scene and she's like of looking at him like he's a human.

"And she's saying 'it's so nice to meet you' and there's this quiet moment and the guy in theatre went 'kill her Elephant Man'.

"Like, he was like 'this is a monster movie right?"

Had a hard time trying not to think about this Bill Hader anecdote during The Elephant Man the other day pic.twitter.com/J3QRTlul2P

— reilly (@GoodPostReilly) May 26, 2023

Taking to the comments, some viewers appeared to call out Gosling while most just poked fun at the situation.

"Yo Ryan Gosling stole that joke from Bill Hader. Thats crazy. Bet he never thought anyone would catch that," one person wrote.

"Oh no, I’m gonna be thinking about this for months," someone else replied.

LADbible has contacted Gosling's reps for comment.