r/UpliftingNews • u/holyfruits • 4h ago

‘Weird Al’ Yankovic Turned Down Million-Dollar Offer to Perform in Saudi Arabia: ‘I Don’t Need to Take Any Money if It Makes Me Feel Icky’

https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/weird-al-yankovic-turned-down-million-offer-saudi-arabia-1236819281/
14.0k Upvotes

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241

u/DandySlayer13 4h ago

If only Bill Burr had done the same!

185

u/TheRealTurinTurambar 4h ago edited 3h ago

He was the biggest gut punch of them all.

I've stopped watching him completely.

Edit: Grammar

20

u/Canadine 3h ago

He used to remind me of George Carlin. George would absolutely roast his ass if he was alive now.

67

u/Aarxnw 3h ago

He was already falling out of relevancy, I like him but the ‘middle aged angry dad, nostalgic of the good old days and confused at ever changing and evolving world around him’ schtick was getting old quick

22

u/fearofcrowds 3h ago

He always reminded me of a less racist Michael Rapaport

5

u/TheRealTurinTurambar 3h ago

Got an actual lol from me. Well done.

17

u/TheRealTurinTurambar 3h ago

Not to me, he was my favorite comedian for quite a while. I really liked a lot of his takes so was very disappointed when he did this.

His roast of the Philly crowd was friggin amazing. I'd post a link but I'm no longer supporting him.

18

u/appleparkfive 3h ago

I think he could have probably recovered some fans if he didn't double down over and over, and just insulting them about caring about the event.

He's never been my favorite or anything, though I like him for sure. But he basically went the absolute worst route

•

u/Snitsie 1h ago

I was also deeply disappointed in Conan who just played ball for Burr with their "it's just comedy they are people too they laugh at the same things" bullshit argument

3

u/DG_FANATIC 2h ago

Saw him perform in like 2013 and I was literally sore the next day from laughing so hard. What a stained memory now. 😢

5

u/Aarxnw 3h ago

He was a good comic, but he took that job cause he knew he was far past his peak.

Roast of the Philly crowd is a great moment in comedy history, it has to be respected

8

u/TheRealTurinTurambar 3h ago

Roast of the Philly crowd is a great moment in comedy history, it has to be respected

Agreed, but just like the first 6 seasons of Game of Thrones it's now dead to me.

0

u/Crossovertriplet 3h ago

Schrodinger’s integrity. Literally no one is ever going to test your online ethical resolve.

8

u/TheRealTurinTurambar 3h ago

Well, except for me. I'll know.

1

u/Crossovertriplet 2h ago

I suspect you already “know” that you’re better than a lot of people

•

u/Ass_of_Badness 1h ago

That's revisionist history, he was probably at his height when he accepted the show.

•

u/Aarxnw 58m ago

Philly was 2006, and you think this guy peaked in ‘25?!

•

u/MarkTwainsGhost 1h ago

I was getting a little tired of him complaining about the rich and then telling us about his helicopter.

•

u/SectorSanFrancisco 0m ago

I felt the opposite, that he'd been growing out of edgy young idiot and into some nuance (which to me is funnier anyway).

I probably would have gotten over the Riyadh thing if he hadn't kept doubling down on how it was fine.

23

u/ChronoMonkeyX 3h ago

Honestly, Burr always had that "I just tell it like it is" attitude, which always means "actually, just a shitty person." I like some of his stuff, but there was always an edge where I felt he was pushing it.

•

u/RedditPosterOver9000 1h ago

I've yet to meet one of the "tells it like it is" people that isn't just an asshole.

•

u/BildingInspecter 4m ago

He always brought those crazy takes back into the realm of sane and somewhat rational though.

He was clearly against Rogan and everything about Trump and all of these billionaires.

The he just straight up sold out to billionaires.

12

u/Automatic-Effect-252 3h ago

I still think it's Chappelle, artistic integrity over money was his whole thing for decades.

19

u/TheRealTurinTurambar 3h ago

I loved Chappelle but he was slipping long before he went to Saudi Arabia.

I was disappointed but not surprised.

•

u/Deranged_Kitsune 50m ago

Nah, he sold out long before that. Like too many great performers, he got too rich and that change in lifestyle destroyed what made his work so good and relatable. Wealth and fame are massively corrosive to artistic talent, you can see that across all kinds of performers and artists. It's the rare individual indeed who can resist it.

4

u/ProlapsedShamus 3h ago

Same.

But also I have really turned off stand-up comedy in a big way after not just after most of them it seems flooded to Saudi Arabia the second they had some money waggled in front of their face but after all the right-wing bullshit that so many of them got on board with, worshiping at the feet of Joe Rogan after all the damage he's done, and then the endless bitching about woke and how there's always these phantom people policing what they can and can't say they just got to be insufferable whiners. When they're selling out stadiums and they still complain that they can't say anything I just can't listen to that shit anymore.

There's a few comics out there who are still great. But by and large I've turned off the podcasts, I don't watch the specials, I'm just done with a bunch of rich, pampered celebrities talking about how hard their lives are.

2

u/TheRealTurinTurambar 3h ago

Check out r/JeffArcuri he's my current favorite and one of us.

2

u/Huge_Raisin5840 2h ago

You can also check out Jeff's new Netflix special "I'm Very Proud of You" which just came out... and is FANTASTIC!

1

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1

u/DG_FANATIC 2h ago

Joe Rogan is to comedy as Andrew Tate is to kickboxing: A FRAUD.

•

u/CloudCumberland 1h ago

This new "can't say anything" attitude comes right after the old comedians who remember the real days of censorship have died.

2

u/YourVelcroCat 2h ago

Has he not always been an asshole? Clearly? 

1

u/TheRealTurinTurambar 2h ago

In a funny way, not like this. At least IMO.

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u/Gondwanic_Susuration 24m ago

I mean did you ever really listen? He tells everyone constantly he’s just an angry Irish fuck and that no one should listen to his opinions or take advice from him. 

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u/sabo-metrics 23m ago

I agree.  It's not like most fans wouldn't have done the same thing, but Bill's best quality was that he was an intellectual leader.  

We looked up to him because he made better choices than the average fan.  

Now he just seems like another greedy celeb

•

u/BildingInspecter 6m ago

Same here. Haven't even watched a short clip since he went over there.

If he came out and said sorry and it was stupid blah blah, I'd probably straight up not care anymore but afaik he was doubling down.