Comedians stealing content is nothing new and has been happening since comedians began making content. These days, however, that thievery looks a little different. From the Vine era until now, there have been countless cases of creators coming up with an original concept and the rest of the internet flocking and taking that idea without giving any type of credit at all.
Boosted especially by the rise of Tik Tok and the ability to use others’ audio with little to no credit necessary, it’s common to see the ideas of a smaller, lower-level creator co-opted and ultimately taken over by higher-level creators with larger platforms.
The most recent case of this type of content controversy comes to us in the hands of Michael Che and his HBO show That Damn Michael Che. In the sixth episode of the sketch-based show, four segments feature a fictional service where “people order a “homegrrl” to show up where they are and help them out of uncomfortable situations.”
Kelly Manno, a Tik Tokker, alleges that Che stole the bit from her without permission or credit.
@kellymanno HOMEGIRL (noun) a friend who’s always down to do sketchy shit with you 👊🏼 #Homegirl#homegirlhoodie♬ original sound – Kelly Manno😎
Back in August 2020, Manno posted a Tik Tok in which “people unable to cope with certain social situations can call a hotline and order a ‘home girl'” to help them out. The initial Tik Tok racked up hundreds of thousands of views and its follow up last September was viewed more than 500,000 times.
Manno claims that each of the four That Damn Michael Che segments ended with a character saying a variation of “Thank you, homegrll,” which, Manno says, is a direct rip of her copyrighted “Thank you, HomeGirl Hotline!”
TMZ says that Che never returned any requests to comment but what do you think? Did the SNL star steal this Tik Tok bit? Does Manno have grounds to get some money out of this? Let us know in the comments.
[Via]