Leonardo Dicaprio stars as stock market criminal genius Jordan Belfort in Martin Scorsese's latest movie The Wolf of Wall Street, but this is one portrayal that Tommy Chong claims would not have happened were it not for him. Ahead of the film's release, the second half of Cheech and Chong has gone on record to state that he is partially responsible for Belfort's written account of his pre-prison life, making him partially responsible for the film adaptation too.

Tommy Chong
Tommy Chong says he helped Belfort write The Wolf of Wall Street

Chong was spotted out in Los Angeles last week by TMZ reporters, who quizzed the comic about his time in jail in the early 2000's, the same jail and the same time that Belfort was serving in for stock market manipulation and running a penny stock boiler room. At the time, Chong was serving 9 months for selling bongs online and in his recent on-the-street discussion, Tommy claimed that he got to know Belfort when he was behind bars, going on to claim that he encouraged Belfort to write his memoirs and even saying that he helped him do it.

The book that Tommy and Jordan worked on eventually became the bestselling The Wolf of Wall Street, which eventually became the film The Wolf of Wall Street. Chong admitted that he and Belfort we cell mates, or 'cellies,' and that they would have food and other items smuggled behind bars for them. He then went on to state that he wrote his book, Meditation From the Joint, at the time of his incarceration, which prompted Belfort to write his own book. His first draft wasn't all that, so Tommy apparently went through the writing process with Belfort and taught him how to write a good story, "and the next thing you know, he's got a best-selling movie."

Leonardo DiCaprio Martin Scorsese
Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese team up again for The Wolf of Wall Street

Tommy isn't looking for royalties or anything, he was just answering questions. In fact, he actually said that he doesn't care about royalties, saying that his biggest thrill is "watching [Belfort] make money honestly, 'cause he's a genius, but like all thieves he was twisted."

It's a good thing Tommy doesn't want to get paid then, because he's probably owed a ton in royalties. Just saying.

Watch the trailer for The Wolf of Wall Street