Stephen Colbert is coming to the defense of his publisher, Hachette, in its fight with Amazon.
In a dispute over e-book pricing, Amazon has made some Hachette books unavailable for pre-order, made them harder to search, and delayed shipments by weeks.
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“If you ordered Hachette’s ’21-Day Weight Loss,’ by the time it arrives, you’re still fat,” Colbert explained on Wednesday’s “Colbert Report.”
He said the dispute is important because Amazon has such a hold on the book market.
“Amazon controls around 50 percent of all book sales — that’s right, 30 books a year,” he said.
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So the host produced an Amazon shipment of his own, which he said was from him and fellow Hachette authors J.K. Rowling and Malcolm Gladwell. He opened a box to reveal… his middle finger.
“Hey Amazon. Customers who enjoyed this, also bought this,” he added, and then gave Amazon another middle finger.
Watch the video: