New York Magazine Brings Us Tub Talk Scandal and Skullduggery! Part Deux

Nicole Ankowski — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 22:48:00 GMT

A few weeks back, our cheeks turned rosy with shock over the “Tub Talk with Sara B.” scandal, involving Nerve's own Sara B. and actor Craig Bierko. This week New York mag interviewed Bierko about John Malkovich, Sara B., and the (coughstolencough) ideas behind his new video series:

“So this woman on Nerve.com, Sara Benincasa, who has long interviewed people in their tubs on a thing called "Tub Talk," is claiming you stole her idea. True?
I don't really have a response to that. My idea behind this whole thing was, I wanted to take the false intimacy of a talk show, of two guys wearing makeup, and turn the intimacy up as much as I could. I thought of people sitting in the bathtub yammering at each other, and I could see how other people could have come up…I’d never seen her show before.

She suggests you could set things aright by having her on your tub show. Will you?
Probably not. Not to insult her, but we've set the bar pretty high with John [Malkovich].”

Ooh, SNAP! “I don't really have a response to that"? Does that mean “yes”? Does that mean “no”? Or does it mean what Sara B. thinks it means?
Call her Bierko! She’ll rock your world. Or at least scrub your back…

Tub Talk Scandal and Skullduggery!

Nicole Ankowski — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:04:00 GMT

Actor Craig Bierko (here’s his IMDB page, so you can be like, “Oh—that guy!”) has moved to making his own funny at Super Deluxe. In his new series “Bathing with Bierko,” Bierko interviews celebrities while bathing with them. (First in the tub: John Malkovich and his chest hair.) It’s funny and weird and – hey! – sounds suspiciously identical to Nerve’s very own Tub Talk with Sara B.

Brilliant minds over at The Apiary and The Comic’s Comic noted the similarities (thievery?), as well. Sara B. had this to say to the Comic’s Comic:

"Here is my official statement on this heinous act: ‘Tub Talk with Sara B.' fan Ryan Grim's eagle eyes have alerted me to perhaps the greatest act of creative skullduggery since Esau wore Jacob's robes to eff with Isaac's sense of smell and steal the sacred birthright: an Internet bathtub talk show on Super Deluxe entitled ‘Bathing with Bierko,’ hosted by one Craig Bierko. This rape of my web video vision shall not go unpunished! Bierko must prepare to feel my wrath! Cursory Wikipedia research indicates that Bierko has romanced such actresses as Meg Ryan and Charlize Theron. I have romanced a variety of drunken unknown bitter actormedians. Also, I don't have a Wikipedia entry. The point? Bierko's playing with fire here, and his Oscar-bait girlfriends had best get out the way, lest they get burned. This isn't over, Craig Bierko. In fact, it's only just begun. And P.S. Maybe you got Malkovich, but I got Mulaney. Suck on THAT!"

Suck on that, indeed!

But here's the real question: was thespian John Malkovich wearing pants?

Nerve Insider : Bathing with Bierko

New York Magazine Brings Us Tub Talk Scandal and Skullduggery! Part Deux

Tub Talk Scandal and Skullduggery!