A YouTube channel accused the French-Moroccan comedian of plagiarizing American comedians.
Gad Elmaleh tweeted a satirical video on Wednesday, responding to claims made in recent weeks that he has been plagiarizing American comedians in several sketches.
The comedian kept silent for several months amid the plagiarism accusations.
Elmaleh chose to act as Chouchou, one of his most famous movie roles, wearing makeup and a bathrobe, to respond.
“I hear hearsay say nothing worthwhile,” said the French comedian of Moroccan descent, telling the “angry” and “hateful” to “go and get snuggled.”
“Wherever you are, whoever you are […] if one day, with social media, your heart bled or cried, be strong because social media is not life, and life is not social media,” Elmaleh added.
The YouTube Copy Comic channel recently identified several sentences and excerpts from Gad Elmaleh’s sketches and compared them to their “original” versions.
Gad Elmaleh won best in comedy Webby Award for his “Welcome to America” sketch in 2017.