celebrity.estateAn EGRET.LAW propertyWorld map3D timeline
Home / Hollywood and TV / George Carlin's estate sued a podcast over an AI-made comedy special and won its removal
Case file s416 · Hollywood and TV · 2008
See 2008 on the timelineSee it in 3D
2008
George Carlin: George Carlin 1975 (Little David Records) Publicity (cropped)
George Carlin. Little David Records. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
Died
22 June 2008; dispute January 2024
Place
Los Angeles, California, USA
Field
comedy · Film and television on the timeline
Legal tradition
US federal copyright law and California right of publicity · Common law
Historical event
the first estate lawsuit over an AI imitation of a dead comedian
Religion
George Carlin: Atheist and agnostic, Catholic (recorded as atheism, lapsed Catholic on Wikidata; American atheists on Wikipedia)
Hollywood and TVNowNorth AmericaUnited States

George Carlin's estate sued a podcast over an AI-made comedy special and won its removal

In January 2024 the podcast Dudesy, hosted by Will Sasso and Chad Kultgen, released an hour-long special called "George Carlin: I'm Glad I'm Dead," presented as an AI imitation of the comedian who had died in 2008. Carlin's daughter, Kelly Carlin, criticised it, and his estate sued in federal court in California later that month, alleging copyright infringement in Carlin's work†. A spokeswoman for Sasso then said the special had been written by Kultgen, not by AI. On 2 April 2024 the parties settled. The podcasters agreed to remove the video and never republish it anywhere. No money terms were reported.

What the law took from it

An estate that owns the copyrights and the name can stop an imitation, whether a human or a machine wrote it.

Sources
  1. The New York TimesPress
  2. CBS NewsPress
  3. The Hollywood ReporterPress

Cite as: celebrity.estate, “George Carlin's estate sued a podcast over an AI-made comedy special and won its removal,” story s416, https://www.celebrity.estate/george-carlin-2008, updated 30 October 2026.

Related cases

Each one shares a person, a kind of fight, a subject, a period or a place with this case. The line under each headline says which.

Robin Williams 2011a (2): Happy Feet Two Australian premiere with Robin Williams and George Miller at Entertainment Quarter in Sydney, Australia2014 · Paradise Cay, Tiburon, California, USARobin Williams's widow and three children fought in a San Francisco court over his belongings, and the children got more than 85 watchesShared: also Hollywood and TV; 6 years apart; also North AmericaRobin Williams died at his home in Paradise Cay, near Tiburon, California, on 11 August 2014, aged 63. His death was ruled a suicide. He had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, and the autopsy found diffuse Lewy body dementia.journals.law.harvard.edu and 12 moreHeath Ledger: Heath Ledger (2)2008 · 421 Broome Street, ManhattanHeath Ledger's will was written before his daughter was born and left her nothingShared: also Hollywood and TV; the same year; also North AmericaHeath Ledger died in his Manhattan apartment at 28 from an accidental overdose of six prescription drugs. His three-page will, signed in 2003, left everything to his parents, Kim and Sally, and his three sisters.archive.triblive.com and 3 moreElizabeth Taylor: Taylor, Elizabeth posed2011 · Los Angeles, CaliforniaElizabeth Taylor's jewelry sold for $137,235,575 at Christie's in December 2011, the most ever paid for a jewelry collection, with the proceeds going to her foundationShared: also Hollywood and TV; 3 years apart; also North AmericaElizabeth Taylor died on 23 March 2011. Christie's sold her jewelry in New York on 13 and 14 December 2011. The evening sale on 13 December brought $115.9 million.guinnessworldrecords.com and 2 moreMarlon Brando: Marlon Brando publicity for One-Eyed Jacks2004 · Los Angeles, CaliforniaMarlon Brando's $21.6 million will left out one child, and a son's girlfriend scattered part of his ashesShared: also Hollywood and TV; 4 years apart; also North AmericaMarlon Brando died at UCLA Medical Center on July 1, 2004, at 80. His will, signed on August 28, 2002, and filed on July 9, 2004, in Los Angeles County Superior Court, valued his estate at $21.6 million.Los Angeles Times and 1 moreBrittany Murphy: Brittany Murphy2009 · Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, California, USABrittany Murphy's father sued the coroner for her hair samples, then said a lab found heavy metals; her mother called it a smearShared: also Hollywood and TV; 1 year apart; also North AmericaBrittany Murphy collapsed at the Hollywood Hills house she shared with her husband, Simon Monjack, and her mother, Sharon Murphy, and died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on 20 December 2009, aged 32.CBS News and 5 morePhilip Seymour Hoffman: Philip Seymour Hoffman at the Paris premiere of "The Ides of March"2014 · New York CityPhilip Seymour Hoffman left an estimated $35 million to Mimi O'Donnell, whom he never married, and refused a trust for his three childrenShared: also Hollywood and TV; 6 years apart; also North AmericaPhilip Seymour Hoffman died of a drug overdose on 2 February 2014.foxnews.com and 3 more

Where this case sits

Hollywood and TVNowNorth AmericaCommon lawUnited States