AP News, August 22nd, 2007
Stephen Colbert will auction the cast that helped mend his broken left wrist to benefit the Yellow Ribbon Fund.
The cast will be auctioned on eBay after Thursday night's "The Colbert Report," Comedy Central said Wednesday. It has been signed by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, CBS "Evening News" anchor Katie Couric, NBC "Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams, Fox News "The O'Reilly Factor" host Bill O'Reilly, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., NBC "Meet the Press" host Tim Russert and White House Press Secretary Tony Snow.
Bids will be accepted until Sept. 3, with the winner to be announced the week of Sept. 10 on the "Report," which airs at 11:30 p.m. EDT Monday through Thursday. Proceeds will go to the Yellow Ribbon Fund, a charity that assists injured service members and their families.
"If I had known that it would give me the opportunity to help our wounded veterans, I would have shattered my triquetrum a long time ago," Colbert said in a statement.
The 43-year-old comedian injured his wrist June 27 in a fall while running around his New York studio before tapping an episode. He didn't publicly reveal the injury until he was fitted with the cast, which he unveiled on the program's July 26 episode.
Since then, Colbert has gotten an extraordinary amount of material out of the injury, including repeatedly lamenting Hollywood's glamorizing of wrist violence. He also created a red "WristStrong" bracelet, which parodies the "LiveStrong" bands developed to benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
Proceeds from purchases of WristStrong bracelets (which can be bought at http://www.colbertnation.com) will also go to the Yellow Ribbon Fund.
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Comedy Central is owned by Viacom Inc.
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On the Net:
Comedy Central:
http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_colbert_report/index.jhtml
Yellow Ribbon Fund:
http://www.yellowribbonfund.org
