Joe Rogan is latest star to accuse late comic Robin Williams of stealing jokes-Asyia Iftikhar-Entertainment – Metro

Joe Rogan dished his thoughts on the long-running allegations of Robin Williams’ material theft (Picture: Getty)

Controversial podcast host Joe Rogan has claimed the late comic actor Robin Williams was guilty of stealing material from ‘a lot of people’.

The 56-year-old media personality made the fiery comments to comic Harland Williams on his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience after Harland asked if the Good Will Hunting actor was ‘that guy’ (someone who stole jokes).

After agreeing, fellow stand-up comic Joe explained: ‘I think (Williams) wanted to kill more than he wanted to be ethical at any cost.

‘Part of that manic sort of style is this constant need to have a bit about anything that you’re talking about ever.

‘Killing was more important; filling that hole inside of him was more important than anything and so he would just do other people’s stuff if he didn’t have anything to say.’

The comedy legend and Oscar winner Williams took his own life in 2014 at the age of 63, having suffered from severe depression.

Robin Williams is remebered as one of the most renowned comic actors of our time (Picture: Getty)

According to Joe, there were many comedians over the years who confronted Williams over his behaviour after he used their bits in the club and on talk shows.

‘(Sam) Kinison got mad at him, he stole from everybody, he stole from a lot of people. If you ask any of those comics from back then, there’s always instances of Robin going on a talk show and doing your bit.’

Explaining the idea of material theft, he added it was a ‘vampire thing’.

‘It’s a weird thing that people do where they try to pawn off other people’s bits as their own. It’s a vampire thing because you’re around all these creative people and you’re just stealing a little bit from this guy and a little bit from that guy.’

It is not the first time Joe has accused a fellow comedian of stealing bits. In 2007 he got into a notorious feud with Carlos Mencia, host of Comedy Central’s Mind of Mencia after joking about him being a thief live on stage.

‘Here’s what I think. I think that every time you open your mouth and talk about me, I think you’re secretly in love with me….’ Carlos fired back, according to reports at the time.

Joe has form with calling out material thieves (Picture: Getty)

As for Williams, the allegations of pilfering jokes from other comedians’ sets has followed him for years.

In 2017 comic Budd Friedman wrote a tell-all history of The Improv, a comedy club he founded in LA and New York. In the book, performers Richard Lewis and Robert Wuhl both spoke about the Mrs Doubtfire star stealing material.

‘Some comics hated him for it,’ Richard said. ‘But I wasn’t one of them.’

Then in 2022, voice actor Joey Camen waded into the discourse on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast.

‘I stayed away from the guy,’ Joey said at the time. ‘He used to steal material. He stole my material. He stole one of my bits and did it on the Mork & Mindy pilot. And I got really pissed.

‘And he gave me a cheque for $300 (£234) and told me, “Don’t cash it til Tuesday”. I was really f***ing angry at the guy.’

His Mrs Doubtfire co-star had only words of praise for the late actor (Picture: Snap/REX/Shutterstock)

Despite the poor track record, Williams also had a profoundly positive impact on past co-stars after featuring in iconic films such as Aladdin, Jumanji and Night at the Museum.

In a recent interview 90s child star Lisa Jakub spoke about how great it was to work with Williams on Mrs Doubtfire.

‘(He was) probably one of the first people who ever really spoke to me super honestly about mental health,’ Lisa said.

‘And he would talk to me about his struggles and the things that he went through. And it was the first time that I felt like, “Oh, I’m not a freak. I don’t have to hide this about myself. This is just something that some of us have to deal with”,’ the Lydia actor later added.

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