Jerry Seinfeld Accused of Stealing 'Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee' Premise

Seinfeld allegedly stole the idea for the web show.

Jerry Seinfeld
Image via Getty/Craig Barritt
Jerry Seinfeld

In 2012 Jerry Seinfeld launched a web show with a fairly simple concept: let’s get comedians in a car drinking coffee. The show aptly titled Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, has been around for 10 seasons and is currently hosted on and being produced by Netflix. In each episode Seinfeld drives around with comedians like Chris Rock and Jon Stewart as they sip on caffeinated drinks and talk about whatever two comedians have to talk about.

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com
 

According to TMZ, the show and Seinfeld are getting slapped with a lawsuit by producer Christian Charles. Charles is claiming that the comedian stole his idea for the show after he pitched it to Seinfeld in 2011. The producer says the two even shot a pilot together.

Documents obtained by TMZ allegedly prove that Seinfeld and “his team were totally into it, and came up with production budgets and marketing plans.” Charles directed a 2012 episode of the show, but is claiming that Seinfeld didn’t want to share joint ownership of the series. The producer is also alleging that Seinfeld is making $175,000 per episode through Netflix. Charles is asking for a "created by" credit and financial compensation for the show. 

Seinfeld’s lawyer shared a statement with TMZ, saying "This lawsuit is delusional. Jerry independently created Comedians in Cars and Mr. Charles only concocted this claim after the show became a commercial success. We are confident that this shakedown lawsuit will go nowhere."

During a recent interview with Ellen, the comedian said that he's not ruling out the possibility of a Seinfeld revival. 

Latest in Pop Culture