YouTube Cofounders Throw A Steaming Pile Of PR At Oprah

Oh no you didn't! YouTube cofounders Steve Chen and Chad Hurley didn't just tell a lie to the Queen of Daytime, did they? Word has it, the tried and true foundation myth behind YouTube ("I was having a dinner party at my place ... " and so forth) is nothing but steaming pile of top-grade PR bull puckey.

According to the now infamously absent third cofounder of YouTube, Jawed Karim, the genesis dinner party never even happened, and -- get this -- he says that the "seed idea of video sharing was his." The quoted Time article from last year goes on to expose some priceless gems of bitch-slappery more suited to the twenty-something YouTube creators, kazillionaires or not:

"Chad and I are pretty modest, and Jawed has tried to seize every opportunity to take credit," Steve told me. But he also acknowledged that the notion that YouTube was founded after a dinner "was probably very strengthened by marketing ideas around creating a story that was very digestible."

So, to recap: Oprah + YouTube Foundation Myth + Genesis Dinner Party + Steaming Pile + Missing Third Cofounder = Huh. I'm thinking an encore Oprah appearance for Chen and Hurley, opposite Karim. Then tears, hugs, etc.

pic from topwebcelebrities.com

-- Brian Bernbaum