People: Let’s give Colbert a big hand
Seriously, $171,525 is a lot of money for a joke to raise.
That’s how much Stephen Colbert‘s “WristStrong” bracelets have brought in since the mock talk show host began selling them as part of his “wrist awareness” campaign, started shortly after he broke his left wrist last June.
On Wednesday’s “The Colbert Report,” the comedian presented the proceeds to the Yellow Ribbon Fund, a charity that assists injured service members and their families.
Colbert has sold the bracelets – a parody of Lance Armstrong‘s cancer-awareness “LiveStrong” bracelets – and distributed them to any celebrity he could convince to wear one, including news anchors Katie Couric and Brian Williams, and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
They have become a badge of honor for his fan base, the so-called “Colbert Nation.”
Colbert earlier auctioned off the cast from his broken wrist, raising $17,000, which also benefited the Yellow Ribbon Fund.
He also recently managed to get a portrait of himself hung between bathrooms at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.
No laughing matter
An editor who published books of jokes by Jay Leno and other comedians without their permission has apologized and agreed to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages.
Judy Brown and her publishers settled the federal copyright infringement lawsuit filed on behalf of NBC Studios, Leno, Rita Rudner and others over 19 books including “The Funny Pages,” “Funny You Should Know That” and “Joke Stew.”
“I thought it was important to make it clear that jokes are protected like any other art form,” Leno said in a statement.
Freedom of the Perez
Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton is entitled to nearly $85,000 to pay his legal costs in a defamation lawsuit brought by a friend of actress Lindsay Lohan, a judge has ruled.
Samantha Ronson was a passenger in Lohan’s car when it crashed into a tree in Beverly Hills in May.
She sued Hilton for repeating on his Web site a report from another site stating that she planted cocaine that was found in the vehicle, but his attorneys argued he was protected by free speech rights.
“Perez Hilton will take steps to make sure every dime is collected,” one of the lawyers said. “This should make one careful before filing a lawsuit against him.”
Smelling a rat
The widow of Sammy Davis Jr. is suing two former business partners over the rights to the Rat Pack entertainer’s life story and management of his legacy.
Altovise Davis says the pair exaggerated their show-business credentials, hid financial records from her and botched a deal for a film biography of her late husband.
When the former Las Vegas fixture died of throat cancer in 1990 at age 64, he owed more than $5 million to the IRS, forcing her to auction many of his personal belongings.
The birthday bunch
Actor Dean Jones is 77. Blues singer Etta James is 70. Actress Dinah Manoff (“Empty Nest”) is 50. Actress Ana Ortiz (“Ugly Betty”) is 37. Singer Alicia Keys is 27.