Paul Reubens Sues Over ‘Pee-Wee’s Playhouse’ Props That Were Allegedly Stolen

Paul Reubens, who is known as the beloved comic fictional character Pee-wee Herman, has filed a lawsuit against James Comisar and his memorabilia company, The Comisar Collection, for allegedly stealing props from Pee-wee’s Playhouse, TMZ reports. The actor claims he loaned some items from the series to Comisar to be used for a “Museum of Television” and was with the understanding that he would get the stuff back until he didn’t.

Reportedly, Reubens demanded the stuff be returned, but Comisar claimed they were gifted to him, and he started selling them at auctions, keeping the profits. Some of the props include the Dog Chair, the Floory puppets, and items such as cue cards and signed photos from the set. The actor wants to sort it out and court and is asking for an order stating he’s entitled to the items or asking for $1 million if he can’t recover items already sold at auction.

There isn’t any other information about the lawsuit, but James Comisar did tell TMZ that the items were “personally given” to him by Reubens and states that he is seeking the return of material that was the property of film studios, production companies, and individual creators, which he isn’t entitled to. Comisar isn’t stepping down, and neither is Reubens.

Beginning in 1980, Paul Reubens portrayed Pee-wee Herman in numerous films and shows, with the most notable being , which ran from 1986-1990 on CBS. Throughout its run, the series won a total of 12 Emmy awards and was ranked on TV Guide‘s Top Cult Shows Ever in 2004 and 2007. It may have been over 30 years since the series was on, but it is very much still a part of people, and it seems to still mean a lot to Reubens. Otherwise, he wouldn’t even be fighting to get the props back.

While much of Paul Reubens’ career has been taken over by Pee-wee Herman, he is known for a lot of other roles as well. His latest TV roles were in 2019 in an episode of both What We Do in the Shadows and Roseanne, with his last movie role being in 2016, coincidentally as Pee-wee Herman in his latest adventure, Pee-wee’s Big Holiday. Hopefully, everything gets sorted out soon for Reubens because those items are a lifetime of memories and happiness.