Fox News Flash top entertainment headlines of December 28
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A Comedy Central special where Jeff Ross roasted inmates at a Texas county jail in 2015 is part of a petition heading to the Supreme Court.
Attorneys for Gabriel Paul Hall claimed that their client had a "no contact" order without consent from legal counsel while "awaiting trial after being indicted on a high-profile capital murder charge," but jail officials allowed Hall to be interviewed by Ross and a production team.
Footage from "Jeff Ross Roasts Criminals: Live At Brazos County Jail" was then "introduced against Petitioner at the penalty phase of his trial, and he was sentenced to death," according to the petition.
Hall confessed to murdering retired Texas A&M University professor and disabled veteran Edwin Shaar and stabbing his wife Linda Shaar in their College Station home in 2011. At the time, Hall was an 18-year-old student at A&M Consolidated High School.
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Jeff Ross was named in a death row case as attorneys fight for an appeal of Texas inmate. (Kevin Winter)
The petition described a "nine-person film crew led by actor and professional insult comic Jeff Ross" being allowed into the high-security area.
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"Ross interviewed Petitioner (Hall), who was awaiting trial after being indicted on a high-profile capital murder charge. Petitioner’s counsel were not advised of the interview, despite having previously sent the Sheriff a ‘no contact’ letter instructing him to give no one access to Petitioner without their consent."
The interview included "numerous vulgar provocations by Ross and damaging responses from Petitioner."
Jeff Ross is known for being the king of roasts, and has stood among the greats in trading jabs. (Jeff Kravitz)
Ross did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
A description of the Comedy Central special show said that Ross "heads to Brazos County Jail to get a look at life behind bars. In addition to playing basketball in the yard and spending time in solitary confinement, Ross hears prisoners' stories, performs stand-up and even roasts the inmates."
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Jeff is known for roasting the likes of Justin Bieber, Alec Baldwin, Bruce Willis, Roseanne Barr and Joan Rivers.
Shaquille O'Neal and Jeff Ross attended Justin Bieber's roast in 2015. (Kevin Mazur)
The beloved roastmaster did however like a series of tweets Wednesday following the release of the petition.
"It's really depressing that @realjeffreyross footage was used like that," one Twitter user wrote. "Anyone who has seen his specials would know not to take the conversations at face value. After doing some research it appears Jeff Ross went on to advocate for better jail/prison conditions."
Another tweet which received Ross' stamp of approval: ".@realjeffreyross is an American hero, and I want to pitch the Columbo detective series reboot where he gets criminals to confess by roasting them."
One follower simply wrote, "I would really like to watch that Jeff Ross prison set."
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Fox News Digital's Larry Fink contributed to this report.
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