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On Thursday, Robert Smigel, the man behind Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, was arrested by the U.S. Capitol Police in the Longworth House Office Building alongside several other staffers of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Authorities told The New York Post that the employees were found inside a hallway on the sixth floor of the building around 8:30 PM that evening. They were deemed “unescorted and without Congressional ID” when the complex was closed to the public.
Reports suggest that the group allegedly took photos and videos near the offices of Republican Congress members Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Rep. Lauren Boebert. The same group was reportedly asked to exit the venue earlier in the day and were also escorted out of the January 6 committee hearing due to the lack of proper press credentials.
As per Fox News, Stephen Colbert staffers applied for press credentials, but the House Radio or TV Gallery denied the request, citing that they were not considered within the “news” umbrella. CBS issued an official statement on the issue and said that the interviews were “authorized and pre-arranged through Congressional aides of the members interviewed.”
The group had reportedly interviewed Representatives Adam Schiff, Stephanie Murphy, and Jake Auchincloss and stayed in the building to “film stand-ups and other final comedy elements in the halls” before being arrested by Capitol Police.
While seven arrests were made in relation to the situation, a total of nine people, including Robert Smigel, were stopped by the police. The police said all seven members were charged with “unlawful” entry.
Everything to know about Robert Smigel: An illustrious career spanning TV shows and movies
Robert Smigel is an American humorist, puppeteer, writer, actor, and director, best known as the creator of the iconic puppet character Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. He was born to Irwin and Lucia Smigel on February 7, 1960, in New York City and grew up in a Jewish household in Manhattan.
He studied pre-dental at Cornell University but dropped the course to transfer to New York University. Smigel graduated from the institution with a degree in political science in 1983. Shortly after, he started attending The Players Workshop in Chicago to study comedy and improvisation.
Smigel started writing for Saturday Night Live in 1985 before becoming the head writer of Late Night with Conan O’Brien in 1993. He introduced Triumph the Insult Comic Dog on the latter in 1997 as a character that “insults” celebrities and pop culture topics in an “Eastern European” accent.
The humorist also wrote for the 1996 ABC series The Dana Carvey Show and gained immense popularity for his cartoons. Smigel contributed to the scripts of The Wedding Singer and Little Nicky before writing the script of You Don’t Mess with the Zohan with Judd Apatow and Adam Sandler.
Smigel also served as the film's executive producer and even appeared in the movie as an Israeli salesman called Yosi. He then co-wrote the screenplay for Hotel Transylvania and contributed to writing three soundtracks for the film, including Where Did the Time Go Girl, Daddy’s Girl, and The Zing.
The humorist also wrote the script for Hotel Transylvania 2 and lent his voice to the character of Harry Three-Eye. Smigel also created the live-action series The Jack and Triumph Show in 2015.
Twitter reacts to Robert Smigel’s arrest by Capitol police
The sudden arrest of Robert Smigel and staffers of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert by the Capitol Police from the Longworth House Office Building left social media users shocked.
Following the detention, many also took to Twitter to react to the situation:
As reactions continue to pour in online, it remains to be seen if the Capitol Police will levy more charges on the accused. Authorities have dubbed the situation an “active criminal investigation” and stated that further decisions would be made after consulting the U.S. Attorney.
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