Earlier this week, Amy Schumer responded to accusations of joke-stealing from fellow comedians Wendy Liebman, Kathleen Madigan, and Tammy Pescatelli. Of the three, Pescatelli went the hardest on Schumer, tweeting things like: “At least Cosby knocked his victims out b4 he raped them,” and: “I tell my truth today, because I too, have a dream……#MLKDay.” Yesterday, though, Pescatelli backpedaled on her remarks and apologized for the entire ordeal.
After Schumer appeared on Jim Norton’s SiriusXM Radio show to deny the accusations (swearing she’d “literally take a polygraph” and show the unedited results on Inside Amy Schumer), Pescatelli appeared on Opie with Jim Norton to retract what she’d initially said. “I said what I said, and it is probably, you know, parallel thinking. That does happen. I’m no genius on that. I’m not breaking any new ground, as I’ve witnessed time and time again during my shows and especially on the Internet over the past couple days,” she said. “What you guys do know about me is that I’m a loyal friend…I was the last to the party and drank the most and was the loudest. I probably should have just stayed out of it and kept my mouth shut. I shouldn’t have accused somebody.”
Pescatelli maintained that while she believes Schumer’s jokes and those of Pescatelli and friends Madigan and Liebman were still too similar to write off completely as coincidence, it was likely a writer working for Schumer — not Schumer herself — who lifted the material. “You do have to admit that the girl has had so much going on, and we do know that when you have all those things, you do have to employ writers,” said Pescatelli. Even so, the comedian admitted, she shouldn’t have joined the fray. “I went too deep. It went too far, and for that I’m super apologetic…She has every right to be mad.”