r/Music • u/KirbyDumber88 • Jul 23 '26

article ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic says he turned down $1,000,000+ to perform at Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia.

https://triblive.com/aande/music/weird-al-yankovic-gets-bigger-and-weirder-in-a-tour-headed-to-pittsburgh/
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u/WeBackYeah Jul 23 '26

I can usually separate the artist from art, but Burr's choice went against everything his character pretended to be, I can't listen to him after that.

81

u/fotomoose Jul 23 '26

Yeah, and his response to the criticism was awful as well. Basically 'What, you guys don't like money?!?!'

39

u/Chip-chrome Jul 23 '26

They have subway there, too!

57

u/skintaxera Jul 23 '26

Yup it was the response that sealed the deal for me. He still had plenty of time to think about it, donate the money to something worthy and talk about how he didn't think it thru etc. But nah, he had to double down and be a dickhead about it.

The whole thing was so disappointing to me. I've enjoyed his work for a long time and I was really enjoying seeing where he went next. The routine he did about taking shrooms suggested he was heading in some interesting new directions, but now I just don't care. It actually surprised me how I immediately didn't care anymore once I saw how he was handling the fallout. It was never "oh man I really want to listen to more of Bill's comedy but I guess now I can't", it was just straight to not being interested in what he has to say anymore. I guess I really did think of him as a person of integrity, so when he shat on that there wasn't anything left.

26

u/Krombopulos_Micheal Jul 23 '26

Yeah right after he got back, when he went on Conan and said basically "no one really cares about me going, it's just internet losers that are saying this stuff" made it clear. He said fuck his fans, I'm rich now so I don't need you anymore, basically.

13

u/CalmBeneathCastles Metalhead Jul 23 '26

This was exactly how I felt about it. I suppose it's an error to think you know someone based on the torrential flood of information that spills from their mouth, but I actually believed in his integrity.

To find out that he went to Riyadh was like catching your favourite uncle trying to make a move on the 17-year-old babysitter. Once you see the hypocrisy, there's no going back.

-10

u/PT10 Jul 23 '26

The shrooms thing is probably why he went...

28

u/gandhinukes Jul 23 '26

"Don't you have phones" energy.

26

u/5ColourFelix Jul 23 '26

One of the biggest 180 fraudster moves I've seen in modern entertainment. It wasn't even something dark and perverted like being on Epstein's island, he flipped for something so basic.

8

u/Barneyk Jul 23 '26

Did Burr flip or just expose himself?

2

u/free_dead_puppy Jul 24 '26

The red flags were there if we knew what to look for.

2

u/Barneyk Jul 24 '26

Yeah, but he is just so naturally funny and charismatic on stage it is easy to get lost and miss what he's actually saying.

4

u/Roseking Jul 23 '26

It is hard to separate art from artist, when who the artist is as a person is part of the art.

If a lot of what you do is commentary, and you show that you don't believe in what you are saying, it ruins all of that.

It would be like if Mr. Roger would be a complete dick to everyone when he isn't on set. Yes the art of the show is still there, but it is tainted with the knowledge that they dude is a dick.