Billy Eichner In Super Catty Twitter Feud Over ‘Billy On The Street’ Rip-Off

By

Published

June 19, 2016

Billy Eichner definitely did not invent the concept of shoving microphones in strangers’ faces and peppering them with questions, although he certainly perfected it in Billy On The Street.

Over the weekend, however, Eichner got into a good old-fashioned Twitter fight with former Tonight Show correspondent and RuPaul’s Drag Race star Ross Matthews, accusing him of stealing the Billy On The Street concept for a commercial.

For reference, here’s the video that caused all of this:

It’s time for street trivia! Hint: @helloross has some trick questions up his sleeve.https://t.co/SMJDruUako

— Capital One (@CapitalOne) June 16, 2016

Eichner initiated the beef with a couple of unusually aggressive Tweets, in which he called out Matthews and Capital One for copying his style, adding an all-caps “FUCK YOU” for emphasis:

Yet another Billy on the Street ripoff. I usually ignore but this one is SHAMELESS and PATHETIC. (And not funny). https://t.co/y2BtoQa6in

— billy eichner (@billyeichner) June 17, 2016

Hey @CapitalOne & @helloross – don’t steal from my fucking show. This is stolen intellectual property. FUCK YOU. #GoodbyeRoss

— billy eichner (@billyeichner) June 17, 2016

While we agree with him on the ‘not funny’, ‘stolen intellectual property’ may be pushing it just a tad. A short time later, Matthews responded, claiming never the have heard of Billy or seen his videos:

@billyeichner Are you serious? I’ve been doing man on the street interviews since 2001. I’ve never even seen your stuff. Bless your heart.

— Ross Mathews (@helloross) June 17, 2016

Billy then claimed that Capital One asked him to do the ad first and he turned it down because he doesn’t “work cheap”, a classic passive aggressive power play:

.@helloross Perhaps u didn’t but ur new friends @CapitalOne certainly did as they reached out to my agents about this campaign. HAPPY PRIDE.

— billy eichner (@billyeichner) June 17, 2016

Because I don’t work cheap. https://t.co/l84gwaFele

— billy eichner (@billyeichner) June 17, 2016

Andy Cohen, who presides over Real Housewives reunions and knows a good wig-snatching when he sees one, tried to step in at this point:

@billyeichner oh honey no.

— Andy Cohen (@Andy) June 17, 2016

Matthews then lobbed it back over the net, saying he’d gotten around to watching some Billy On The Street segments for the first time. “He’s funny! Wish he was nice, too,” he said. Burn.

.@billyeichner accuses me of stealing man on the street segments from him, but I started doing it on TV 15 years ago. Do the math. ??

— Ross Mathews (@helloross) June 17, 2016

Just googled @billyeichner to watch some of his stuff for the first time. He’s funny! Wish he was nice, too.

— Ross Mathews (@helloross) June 17, 2016

@billyeichner Thanks for passing on it. We had a great time together. Happy pride & good luck with everything in the future!

— Ross Mathews (@helloross) June 17, 2016

Eichner signed off after that, saying “life is short and I won’t be getting into a Twitter feud with ROSS THE INTERN of all people.” It’s a bit late for that now, sorry mate.