When Stephen Hawking appeared as himself in The Simpsons and Futurama in 1999/2000 both episodes have jokes about him taking credit for other people's works or ideas. Is this just random humor or was it based on some real events or accusations?

by yukicola

According to the producers, he actually recorded all his lines himself (as opposed to them just using the same voice software and getting an identical result) so evidently he must've been fine with making fun of himself in that way.

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They Saved Lisa's Brain (1999):

Stephen Hawking: "Your theory of a donut-shaped universe is intriguing, Homer. I may have to steal it."

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Anthology of Interest I (2000):

Nichelle Nichols: "It's about that rip in space-time that you saw."

Stephen Hawking: "I call it a Hawking Hole."

Fry: "No fair! I saw it first!"

Hawking: "Who is The Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?"

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Fry: "...so then my chair tilted back and I almost fell into this freezer thingy."

Stephen Hawking: "I call it a Hawking Chamber."

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Nichelle Nichols: "Wait. I'm getting an idea. What if Fry was supposed to get frozen?"

Stephen Hawking: "Yes. Shove him in the tube. It was my idea."

Hergrim

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