Jimmy Fallon is facing accusations of stealing a joke from a decade-plus old episode of South Park in his Tonight Show monologue.
On Tuesday’s episode, Fallon introduced the story of a man in the U.K. who broke a world record by “swallowing 15 fish sticks in one minute,” which compelled the show’s announcer Steve Higgins to express his disgust.
“Gross! How’d you even find him? What a pervert,” Higgins interjected. “Geez. That’s disgusting. This is a family show, I thought.”
Fallon immediately clarified that he was talking “fish sticks,” much to Higgins’ relief, adding, “I feel like a fool.”
A clip of the joke was shared by the X account @latenightercom, which was littered with comments bringing up its South Park origins.
In the 2009 episode titled “Fishsticks,” Cartman tries to come up with a joke, suggesting, “How about a joke that has something to do with fish sticks. You know, ‘cause ‘fish sticks’ sounds like ‘fish dicks.’”
After his brainstorm is interrupted, Cartman finishes crafting the joke. “Like fish sticks in your mouth? What are you, a gay fish?” he said.
During his appearance at The New Yorker Festival in 2014, “Fishsticks” co-writer Bill Hader spoke about coincidentally coming up with the joke while speaking with South Park co-creator Trey Parker.
After a back-and-forth where there was uncertainty if “fish sticks” or “fish dicks” was being said, Hader recalled Parker excitedly asking, “Has anybody ever made that joke?”
After a Google search confirmed that the joke has never been made, Hader said he and Parker turned their attention to someone who could not take a joke, and that is where the artist formerly known as Kanye West comes in.
It’s unclear if Fallon received approval from Hader, a fellow Saturday Night Live alum, to use the joke.
