Judd Apatow’s newest movie Funny People takes a few swipes at making fun of celebrities such as Megan Fox and Jon Favreau. But in an unexpected move, Funny People also target Craigslist founder Craig Newmark and MySpace co-founder Tom Anderson.
A question that was asked in the movie was who would win a fight between Newmark and Anderson. Nobody could answer the question in the movie, but Newmark himself responded. “We’d fight like nerds to the embarrassment of all,” quipped Newmark.
Funny People made $22 million in the opening weekend. The movie stars Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Jonah Hill, Eric Bana, and Jason Schwartzman. Last month, Jonah Hill discussed a fake Twitter account using his name on Letterman.
Craigslist.org has been at the center of attention over a recent killing spree allegedly by medical student Philip Markoff. Two years ago, 24 year old Katherine Ann Olson responded to a phony baby-sitting ad on Craigslist and was murdered. Craig Newmark took the podium at Olson’s memorial concert recently.
“Despite the billions of times well-meaning people have helped each other through Craigslist, it’s been devastating to see that it can also be used by bad people to take cruel advantage of others and bring a senseless end to a beautiful young life,” stated Newmark at the podium. “The most recent crime in Boston has been a grim reminder of that.”
In October 2007, Olson graduated from St. Olaf College with a dual degree in theater and Hispanic studies. She was working several part-time jobs at the time of her murder. On Craigslist, there was an ad listed by the name of Amy who agreed to hire her from 10:30AM-5PM. Amy sent her address in Savage, Minnesota. When Olson showed up, it turned ot to be Michael Anderson instead of Amy. He was carrying a Ruger .357 Magnum Blackhawk revolver gun at the time. Anderson became known as “The Craigslist Killer.”
In March 2009, the sheriff of Cook County in Chicago decided to sue Craigslist in response to the arrest of 76 prostitutes made through the use of the classifieds website.
Below is a full video of Newmark’s speech at the concert.
