Wikipedia:Celebrities who have been quoted as having used Wikipedia

This internal listing serves multiple purposes. One of them is to highlight the notable people who love our project.

Stephen Colbert — American comedian, host of The Colbert Report

On the March 1, 2006, episode of The Colbert Report (Comedy Central), Arianna Huffington challenged Stephen Colbert on his claim that he had invented the word truthiness. During the interview, Colbert declared, “I’m not a truthiness fanatic; I’m truthiness’s father.” Huffington corrected him, citing Wikipedia, that he had merely “popularized” the term. Of her source, Colbert responded: “Fuck them.” This suggests he has at least visited Wikipedia to the extent that he is familiar with it.
On May 9, 2006, The Colbert Report implicitly criticized the veracity of Wikipedia during his segment, The Wørd, in which Colbert's nightly monologue is accompanied by humorous bullet points on-screen.

Colbert: "Who the hell does Sigmund Freud think he is?!" (Bullet point: Carl Jung?)

Colbert: "I, for one, had no idea who he is, so I did a thorough study. Read the entire Wikipedia entry." (Bullet point: Even the Accurate Parts.)

He also coined the term 'wikiality' to refer to something that is true and part of reality because it is posted on a Wikipedia article, and encouraged fans to vandalize wikipedia pages such as elephant to spread misinformation.

Roger Ebert — Acclaimed American movie reviewer and film festival organizer.: Ebert has used Wikipedia as a reference in his reviews. [1]

Bill Gates — Founder of Microsoft: In PRWeek, Jimmy Wales commented "I saw Bill Gates at a party the other night, and we both laughed about how much of a big deal the media's making out of something that's really nothing." (in regards to a Microsoft employee proposing to pay a blogger to edit on their behalf.)

Arianna Huffington — American Liberal blogger and personality: On the March 1, 2006, episode of The Colbert Report (Comedy Central), Arianna Huffington challenged Stephen Colbert on his claim that he had invented the word truthiness. During the interview, Colbert declared, “I’m not a truthiness fanatic; I’m truthiness’s father.” Huffington corrected him, citing Wikipedia, that he had merely “popularized” the term. Of her source, Colbert responded: “Fuck them.”

Brian Lamb — Founder the C-SPAN television network.: Lamb mentioned his usage in an interview on Q&A with Jimmy Wales.

Leo Laporte — American tech writer and television personality.: Laporte discussed his usage on Call for Help episode 282, before interviewing contributor Nicholas Moreau. Also has talked about it on the This Week in Tech podcast. [2]

Mike Lazazzera — Call for Help and commandN on-screen personality.: He said he has "issues" with Wikipedia, in a podcast of commandN.

Amber MacArthur — Canadian tech writer and television personality.: MacArthur discussed her usage on Call for Help episode 282, before an interview with contributor Nicholas Moreau. [3]

Sir Ian McKellen — British actor: Commented on how dated he felt his article was, in Empire magazine. (See Wikipedia Signpost: Ian and Empire)

Randy Newman — musician: In an interview on the Colbert Report, said he uses Wikipedia to research America

David Onley — Canadian writer, host of CP24 program Home Page: Mentioned his usage on television, during an interview with contributor Nicholas Moreau.

Robert Scoble — American blogger, technical evangelist, and author.: Recommended to an interviewer that readers visit his bio in Wikipedia for a background on him.

Chad "Corntassel" Smith — Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation: Sent a letter of his support to the Wolf Mountain Group, mentioning his support of the Cherokee Wikipedia.^[1]

[edit] People who have been quoted as having not used Wikipedia

Steve Ballmer — Microsoft exec: Balmer has not visited his biography, according to the article. However, it is unknown if he has indeed visited other Wikipedia articles.^[2]