Wag's Revue, an online literary magazine founded in early 2009, seemed to have hit the jackpot with a bookish interview with Comedy Central host Stephen Colbert. Problem is, it may be a sham.
A source close to the magazine tells PopEater that after being dubious about the publication's chances of landing Colbert, he simply asked an editor. "I called up [essays editor Sandra Allen and asked how they got that interview, and she basically said, 'Yeah, we made that up.' I guess they figured they were too small-time for Colbert to notice, or maybe that he just wouldn't care. But then it's like, didn't they know someone would notice?"
The source says Wag's Revue tends to get rejected for high-profile interviews. "Every time they try to get someone really famous, they always get turned down. One of the editors tried to sneak backstage one time to challenge the RZA to a game of chess, and almost got his a** kicked. So I was reading the Colbert interview was like, 'How the f**k did they pull this off? Something's fishy here.'"
The word from Wag's, after the jump.Wag's Revue's full comment to PopEater is as follows:"The interview, like all works of literature in the magazine, stands on its own and should require no external explanation or defense. And, like all writing, its 'legitimacy' is formed in a contract with the reader. If your concerns are over 'legitimate' authorship, we think those issues are addressed very explicitly in the text of the interview and throughout the rest of the issue."
Pressed for specifics as to whether Colbert actually spoke to Wag's Revue, the magazine's final word was: "Again, we believe the text speaks for itself on that matter."
The introduction to the nine-page Q&A transcript clearly states: "He [Stephen Colbert] spoke with the Wag's Revue editors at an American restaurant near his offices in New York."
That doesn't jive with our source's knowledge of the situation, though he adds, "I'm pretty sure she mentioned that they did try to contact Colbert and he never wrote back."
Colbert, whose satirical style is pronounced enough to be considered a character separate from himself, authored the book 'I Am America (And So Can You!).' Of the new interview, our source opines, "Once you know it's a fake, it's pretty plain to see."