Back in February, Bill Burr went on Monday Morning Podcast and declared that the billionaire class who sow division and exploit suffering among the masses are “rabid dogs” that need to be “put down,” but that was before he talked to their booker.
By far, this year’s biggest controversy in the American comedy community was the Riyadh Comedy Festival, a multi-week event funded and hosted by the Saudi Royal Family in their capital city. While a minority of A-listers like Shane Gillis turned down the opportunity to perform for the alleged bankrollers of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, by and large, the top tax bracket of the stand-up industry all lined up to perform for the pleasure of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed “The Bone Saw” bin Salman.
But while plenty of attending comics at the Riyadh Comedy Festival have offered shameless, moralizing excuses for performing at the state-organized whitewashing event, but only one of them added a hacked-off Saudi leg to their international tour after spending the previous year chanting, “Free Luigi!”
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The conversation soon turned to another sensitive topic—Luigi Mangione, who has been accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. One reporter suggested Burr had shown support for Mangione, which Burr denied. “I said what I felt, and it’s what a lot of people said,” he replied.
Pressed to clarify, Burr shut it down: “No. I’m not going to just have some controversial moment so you can get clicks. I’m here for Conan.”
In a January interview with Variety, Burr reflected on the CEO’s murder, saying it was “fun to see [executives] worry” and experience pressure, likening it to the way corporations treat the public.
While Burr insists he’s “not qualified” to weigh in on major news, his blunt responses continue to stir conversations across both comedy and media circles.
