Tycoon takes Bill Maher's joke seriously

Billionaire Donald Trump is suing US comic Bill Maher for $5million over a joke he made on air.

Last month, Maher quipped that the property tycoon must be ‘the spawn of his mother having sex with an orangutan’ – and offered to donate $5 million to charity if he could produce the paperwork to show it wasn’t true.

The offer on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno mimicked Trump’s own well-publicised ultimatum for Barack Obama to produce his own birth certificate, as part of the persistent rumours that the President is not a ‘true’ American – even though the document has previously been released.

In response to Maher’s comments, Trump quickly produced a copy of his New York birth certificate – and is now demanding the comic pay up.

Yesterday, Trump, the star of the American version of The Apprentice, told Fox News he was taking legal action to secure the money.

When it was suggested that the comedian might have been joking, Trump insisted: ‘I don’t think he was joking. He said it with venom. That was venom. That wasn’t a joke. In fact, he was nervous when he said it; it was a pathetic delivery.’

Trump also tweeted: ‘I don’t know whether I will win or lose the @billmaher lawsuit but had an obligation to sue for charity.

Here is Maher’s original comment:

And here is Trump talking to Fox & Friends yesterday:

Earlier today, Maher tweeted: ’What?? Really? Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha’ though he didn’t make it explicit he was talking about Trump’s lawsuit.

Published: 5 Feb 2013