In 2018, we reported that a producer named Christian Charles had filed a lawsuit against Jerry Seinfeld for allegedly stealing the idea for Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee and then cutting him out of any potential profits once it became a big hit. Charles said that he even shot a pilot with Seinfeld and was still on board when Seinfeld’s team was actually putting together budgets and marketing plans, but he claimed he was essentially kicked off the project because Seinfeld supposedly didn’t want to share ownership of the show with anyone. Now, according to Variety, a judge has dismissed the suit, proving that Seinfeld single-handedly came up with the idea for the show with nobody’s help.
Actually, no, that’s not quite what happened. The judge did dismiss the suit, but it was because it came well outside of a three-year statute of limitations that had been put in place after Seinfeld and his team agreed to pay him $107,734.41 in 2012 for the work he had done on the show. What had happened was that Charles wanted partial ownership of the show, but Seinfeld didn’t want to do that, so they gave him that money and went on to make Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee without him. The fact that it took so long between taking that money and accusing Seinfeld of stealing the show is what caused the judge to dismiss the suit.