Absurd-U-Chart vs RidicuList

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Posted at 02:11 PM ET, 04/28/2011

Stephen Colbert tries to start feud with Anderson Cooper

By Sarah Anne Hughes

Stephen Colbert is trying to start a feud with CNN host Anderson Cooper by accusing him of stealing Colbert’s “Absurd-U-Chart” idea.

The Comedy Central host threw down the gauntlet on Wednesday night’s “Colbert Report” when he aired part of Cooper’s “RidicuList” segment in which Cooper refused to start a feud with Sean Hannity. The Fox talk show host had misquoted Cooper during a Fox News special on what he called liberal media bias. What a tangled web of (fake) cable news drama!

During last week’s “Behind the Bias” special, Hannity used a clip of Cooper saying that Joseph Wilson, a former U.S. ambassador in Africa and the husband of former covert CIA agent Valerie Plame, was “the victim of a Bush administration smear campaign.”

During his RidicuList segment on his CNN show Tuesday, Cooper compared Hannity’s edited clip to a video of the full quote. The comparison shows that Cooper was only reporting the claim.

Cooper said he was not trying to start a conflict between himself and Hannity. “This is not the start of some cheesy cable news feud ... so that he’ll respond in kind, and then can go tit-for-tat in a mutually beneficial ratings building brouhaha,” he said, adding that he’s met Hannity briefly.

But Colbert said Wednesday that if Cooper wouldn’t start a feud to get higher ratings, he would: “For stealing my idea, I’m putting you and your ‘RidicuList’ on the ‘Absurd-U-Chart.’” The chart, Colbert explained, “is reserved for things that I find so offensively absurd.” He then used peanut butter to pin Cooper’s mug on the chart, which also featured such absurdities as a rabbit with a pancake on its head and an owl.

Watch the three clips from Colbert, Cooper and Hannity below: