Comedian Russell Peters Claims Trevor Noah Steals Jokes: ‘You Don’t Borrow in This Business’

The controversy surrounding Trevor Noah, the new host of The Daily Show, will not let up: first, there were his old tweets condemned as anti-Semitic; now, he’s accused of stealing jokes.

The allegations of Noah’s joke-stealing stretch back to 2013, when he was accused of ripping jokes from fellow South African comedian David Kau, and in an interview with Channel NewsAsia’s Conversation With, famed comedian Russell Peters cited them again when he was asked whether he was jealous of Noah’s new gig.

“No — he’s also a thief, but that’s irrelevant,” Peters said, adding that he himself was “100 percent” the wrong person for the host’s chair. “He’s stolen material from David Kau, he’s stolen material from myself.”

“But isn’t that borrowing?” the interviewer asked.

“You don’t borrow in this business,” Peters replied. “If you’re a comedian, that’s like stealing somebody’s underwear and putting them on. That doesn’t make any sense, why would you do that?”

Noah had previously addressed the claims of joke-stealing in 2013 in an interview with Mahala. “You feel like s— obviously,” he said. “But you learn. You learn to do the thing. Every successful comedian in this country has had a phase where guys have gone after them.”

Watch below via ChannelNews Asia:

[h/t The Star]
[Image via screenshot]

—

>> Follow Tina Nguyen (@Tina_Nguyen) on Twitter

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!