Todd Phillips, director of “The Hangover,” appears to have been suffering from a hangover when he recently told students studying filmmaking at his alma mater, New York University, that he fraudulently reported his film gear as stolen as a student and had the insurance company pay the claim, according to an article in the New York Daily newspaper.

Phillips apparently told the story about how insurance fraud filled his pockets because the school has insurance problems due to lots of lost equipment.

Maybe it’s time for a 12-step program for the media to help them understand that (1) insurance has an important role and (2) insurance fraud is as stupid as some of the scenes in Phillips’ movie.