Amazon is messing with the wrong guy.
A few days after best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell came out against the online retailer for raising prices and delaying shipments of his books because of a dispute with publisher Hachette, Colbert has done the same. Colbert's plaint, however, is funnier.
The Colbert Report
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During a segment on Wednesday night's Colbert Report, Colbert announced he was "mad prime" at Amazon for its latest actions. In particular, Colbert mocked Amazon's suggestion that consumers in the market for his books should buy a used copy.
"Folks, publishers and authors get no cash from used book sales. Plus, you don't want them. Used books are the sluts of the literary world, passed around from person to person, spreading their pages for anyone, getting cheaper and cheaper until eventually they wind up in prison."
Colbert also dubs Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos "Lord Bezo-Mort" for limiting access to Harry Potter Author J.K. Rowling's upcoming book The Silkworm.
The coup de grace comes at the end, when Colbert pulls out a cardboard box that he says is a package for Amazon. Poking his (pixelated) hand through the bottom, he reveals a one-finger salute. Then he doubles down on the insult.
Your move, Amazon.