Tom Green is accusing Jimmy Kimmel of being a “joke thief,” alleging the late-night host ripped off one of the Canadian comedian’s classic comedy bits from his groundbreaking 1990s talk show for a prank Kimmel pulled on his Aunt Chippy.
On Thursday, Kimmel celebrated his aunt’s 80th birthday by sharing a vintage practical joke from the early years of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, when he painted her house bright orange and green when she wasn’t around and then filmed her horrified reaction to her suddenly garish home.
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In addition to posting the video on social media, the video was also shared on YouTube, where it’s already amassed more than a quarter-million views.
While it’s an undeniably hilarious bit, Green took to Instagram on Friday to remind Kimmel that he pulled that exact same prank on his parents — 20 years earlier.
Green’s stunt, in fact, aired on “The Tom Green” show back in the mid-1990s, when he painted his parents’ home plaid while they were away on vacation.
“Hey @JimmyKimmel just saw your latest Instagram post where you painted your aunt’s house. Wonder where ya got that idea?” Green asked sarcastically in the caption to a video he shared with his followers.
“Sometimes I don’t understand why people can copy all of my classic bits from ‘The Tom Green Show’ and get no push back?” he continued. “If a standup comic steals material they are crucified!! Love ya Jimmy but I want a writers credit. Have me on the show sometime and we can talk about it. In the meantime I want all my Tom Green Show fans to go leave a comment on Jimmy’s post and let him know what ya think.”
Just to make sure there was no misunderstanding, Green added the hashtags #ripoff and #jokethief.
ET Canada has reached out to Kimmel’s reps for comment.
Meanwhile, compare Kimmel’s prank with the one that aired on Green’s show 25 years ago:
