Puppet Manufacturer Sues CBS over a Farting Hippo

Let’s back up a second: there is a running joke in the CBS procedural NCIS involving a farting hippo toy named Bert. I am not kidding. Just look at this:

Apparently, Bert the Farting Hippo (good God did I really just type that) was so popular CBS was selling it online. But puppet manufacturer Folkmanis Inc. is filing a suit against CBS, asserting that they were the original creators of the hippo puppet.

But what happened, Folkmanis alleges, is that they were working with CBS on a new, updated version of their hippo toy, but then CBS reached out to a Chinese toy company to make unlicensed versions of the plush toys for them to sell.

Folkmanis is suing CBS for $733,000, claiming copyright infringement. In response, CBS issued perhaps the most pun-filled network statement ever.

“We believe this to be a flatulent abuse of the legal system, and we intend to clear the air on this matter immediately.”

It should be noted that if you try to go to the page where CBS was selling Bert the Farting Hippo, it’s no longer available.

[h/t NYMag]
[image via Shutterstock]

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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

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