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Wayans Brothers Accused of Stealing Jokes

Former assistant sues comedians over recent book release.

The Wayans Brothers will be facing off in court next week with a former assistant who's accusing Keenan, Shawn and Marlon Wayans of ripping off his jokes for their collaborative book, You Know You’re a Golddigger When…

 

The Hollywood Reporter says that Jared Edwards worked for the comedy family for a decade and that many of his jokes talked about women going after wealthy men. Edwards claims he pitched the idea for a book that would include jokes like, "You know you're a golddigger when you know more about sports players' stats than an ESPN analyst." Edwards says the brothers rejected his idea only to do their own spin on it.

 

Edwards says the Wayans brothers and their publisher committed copyright infringement and also “breached an implied promise to pay him for use of his ideas.” Though it won’t be mentioned in trial, Edwards has been accused of engaging in sexual acts in Shawn’s car, throwing a phone at Marlon and check fraud. Should Edwards win any money it will be stripped from the advance money the brothers received for the book.

(Photo: Stephen Shugerman/Getty Images)

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