# Amy Schumer claims the US Secret Service contacted her about potential death threats, why the Secret Service? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 21, 2022, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-schumer-claims-the-us-secret-service-contacted-her-about-potential-death-threats-why-the-secret-service/963147 "2022-04-21T01:08:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-schumer-claims-the-us-secret-service-contacted-her-about-potential-death-threats-why-the-secret-service/963147/1 "2022-04-21T01:08:02Z")
[In a recent interview with Howard Stern](https://www.yahoo.com/now/amy-schumer-says-secret-reached-131627613.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAH9wKsvlNfzsZ6qH1Pj6buuZeXiY8PUf-9UvPbJ5Y0bNgr63cIbQafE3DJfaoaTCf2zQ1dGTA-AbHIbko-T6QOn_AVDqw1Mdg-5oNRrmT71Rfa9vIsJ8n2uWUXXjD3ADEvDio2LtNjS81Lwa1AoIUJpWB1BLxq_7Z7LI4kC_9RVC) Amy Schumer claims that due to jokes she made during the Oscars about Kirsten Dunst, she received death threats so bad both the Secret Service and LAPD reached out to her. > However, some people didn’t understand that Dunst and Plemons were in on the joke, and took their protests to the extreme. > “I got death threats,” Schumer said. “They were so bad, that the Secret Service reached out to me about that bit. I’m like, ‘I think you have the wrong number. This is Amy, not Will.’ … The misogyny is unbelievable.” > Schumer said the Los Angeles Police Department also contacted her because the threats “were that serious and that many.” Why would the Secret Service be reaching out to a random civilian about potential death threats? Why would they even be monitoring anything that would give her death threats? Why would her making a joke about Dunst trigger a sheer amount of death threats that causes literally multiple police agencies to contact her? The only explanation I’ve seen people online offer up is that Senator Chuck Schumer is Amy Schumers cousin, but again, why is the Secret Service investigating this? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-schumer-claims-the-us-secret-service-contacted-her-about-potential-death-threats-why-the-secret-service/963147/2 "2022-04-21T01:32:10Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > Why would the Secret Service be reaching out to a random civilian about potential death threats? She’s related to someone. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-schumer-claims-the-us-secret-service-contacted-her-about-potential-death-threats-why-the-secret-service/963147/3 "2022-04-21T01:49:59Z")
The people who threatened her may be threatening other people that are their primary responsibility. Chuck Schumer mentioned above may have been mentioned in the threats to her or in separate incidents. Or maybe they threatened to get Biden, Obama, and all the rest of the Jews too. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-schumer-claims-the-us-secret-service-contacted-her-about-potential-death-threats-why-the-secret-service/963147/4 "2022-04-21T12:40:52Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > The only explanation I’ve seen people online offer up is that Senator Chuck Schumer is Amy Schumers cousin, but again, why is the Secret Service investigating this? IIRC, Secret Service doesn’t protect members of Congress. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-schumer-claims-the-us-secret-service-contacted-her-about-potential-death-threats-why-the-secret-service/963147/5 "2022-04-21T12:52:16Z")
Maybe she mistook someone from the FBI for Secret Service or misspoke. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-schumer-claims-the-us-secret-service-contacted-her-about-potential-death-threats-why-the-secret-service/963147/6 "2022-04-21T12:55:05Z")
Or she’s lying out of her ass. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-schumer-claims-the-us-secret-service-contacted-her-about-potential-death-threats-why-the-secret-service/963147/7 "2022-04-21T13:22:30Z")
> [@Chingon](#): > > Maybe she mistook someone from the FBI for Secret Service or misspoke. > [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Or she’s lying out of her ass. I’m going to go with one of these. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-schumer-claims-the-us-secret-service-contacted-her-about-potential-death-threats-why-the-secret-service/963147/8 "2022-04-21T14:12:13Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > > [@Chingon](#): > > > > Maybe she mistook someone from the FBI for Secret Service or misspoke. > > > [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > > > Or she’s lying out of her ass. > > I’m going to go with one of these. Agreed. Just the fact that Shumer’s father is second cousin to a U.S. Senator doesn’t give her any greater protection. I didn’t hear her claim anyone but her was threatened. It could possibly involve the FBI if it was across state lines. No way it was the Secret Service. U.S. Capital Police have jurisdiction over threats to senators if that were to happen. Not second cousins once removed. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-schumer-claims-the-us-secret-service-contacted-her-about-potential-death-threats-why-the-secret-service/963147/9 "2022-04-21T21:41:33Z")
The part that doesn’t make sense to me is, if I’m getting threatened, then I’m going to be the one reaching out to the police, not the other way around. I know about the threats already, because I’m getting them. How do the police know about them, if not from me? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-schumer-claims-the-us-secret-service-contacted-her-about-potential-death-threats-why-the-secret-service/963147/10 "2022-04-21T21:48:27Z")
She has people that handle that stuff. She wouldn’t look at every letter, email, social media message, or phone message, just those brought to her attention. In this case, if she did hear from the Secret Service there must have been someone else involved. Possibly the Secret Service found someone threatening the President or someone else they protect also had made a threat to Amy. Possibly just something online she and her people never knew about. But as already noted, there may not have been any involvement of the Secret Service at all. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2022, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-schumer-claims-the-us-secret-service-contacted-her-about-potential-death-threats-why-the-secret-service/963147/11 "2022-04-22T01:26:54Z")
It could be: - my secretary opened a letter and thought it was a serious death threat. - panicked, she called the Secret Service and left a message. - the Secret Service reached out (to tell me that wasn’t their job, and to recommend contacting the local police department). - she went on TV shows to talk about this, sent out Press Releases, made tweets, and did every possible publicity-related response. Not completely a publicity stunt, like claiming you were assaulted by racist homophobes late at night, but seemingly milking it for all it’s worth. Not unusual for a performer.