The next chapter in the Dumb Starbucks saga unfolded last night when Nathan Fielder, the star of Comedy Central’s Nathan for You and the prankster behind the L.A. parody coffee shop, stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live last night to discuss the success and pitfalls of owning a fake coffee shop.
After bestowing Kimmel with some free samples, Fielder was quick to point that what he was doing was completely legal, and that using the Starbucks name and famous mermaid logo was 100 percent in compliance with U.S. parody law. Apparently that didn’t stop Los Angeles Department of Public Health, which shut down Dumb Starbucks for operating without a health permit, as noted by the Hollywood Reporter.
“What they don’t understand is, technically, legally speaking, we’re an art gallery and the coffee we’re selling is considered the art,” Fielder told Kimmel, completely serious. “So art galleries don’t need health permits.”
Fielder later explained the very real consequence if Dumb Starbucks continued to permit less. “I really just found this out that the penalty is up to six months in jail, so we’re trying to be very nice to them,” Fielder said as Kimmel guffawed at the predicament the whole hoax has created. Fortunately, Kimmel had some reassuring words for Fielder. “I’m gonna put in a word with the mayor for you,” he told him.
While this may have been Fielder’s most elaborate hoax, it certainly wasn’t his first. Some of his previous pranks, according to ABC News , include encouraging his 107,000 Twitter followers to text their boyfriend or girlfriend “I haven’t been honest with you” without any follow-up response.
See the entire interview below:
Photo Courtesy of ABC
