Jerry Seinfeld Sued For Stealing Idea For Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee

Feb. 16, 2018 9:31 AM ET by Martin Bigg / 15 Comments

The show's producer claims they came up with the idea for the show back in 2002.

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld is just as well-known for his love of cars as his comedy prowess. It made perfect sense, then, to combine his two passions, so he created the hit online talk show Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee as a retirement project. Nine seasons since the show started in 2012, a tenth season is scheduled to stream on Netflix this year. As the name suggests, the show follows a simple concept: Seinfeld chats with comedians over a coffee and documents the journey to the coffee shop in an exotic, and sometimes unusual, car.

According to TMZ, the show's producer, Christian Charles, is now suing Seinfeld, alleging that he came up with the idea for the show, not Seinfeld. In the lawsuit, Charles claims he pitched the idea for the show to Seinfeld back in 2002 but the comedian wasn't interested in doing tit. According to TMZ, Charles claims Seinfeld called him back in 2011 to ask about the original concept before shooting a pilot for the show together with Jerry in the driver's seat. Legal documents obtained by TMZ claim that Jerry and his team "were totally into it, and came up with production budgets and marketing plans." So what started this feud between the pair?

Allegedly, Charles fell out with Seinfeld because he didn't want to share ownership of the show or give Charles a financial stake, and went on to produce the show without him. Charles claims that Jerry earns $750,000 for every episode of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. His lawsuit is requesting a "created by" credit and financial compensation. Jerry's attorney has since responded to the lawsuit. "This lawsuit is delusional," they told TMZ. "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."