Weird Al Yankovic turned down a seven-figure payday to perform at Saudi Arabia's Riyadh Comedy Festival, saying the offer made him feel uncomfortable enough to walk away from the largest single-show deal of his career.
According to Deadline, the five-time Grammy winner told Pennsylvania's Tribune-Review that he was invited to the festival and offered more money than he had ever been offered for one show.
"I was invited to the Riyadh Comedy Festival, which is something that I obviously did not want to do," he said. "They offered me, I'm not going to say how much, but it was seven figures to do one show, which is way more than I've ever been offered in my life to do a show."
Yankovic made clear he was not criticizing the comedians who accepted. "But I just couldn't be part of that. I'm not dissing anybody that took the money because I'm sure everybody that went there got a lot of money. I'm sure they had their own reasons and justifications for doing it. But I'm doing enough that I don't need to take any amount of money if it makes me feel icky, and that kind of did."
The Riyadh Comedy Festival ran from September 26 to October 9 and drew a large lineup that included Kevin Hart, Dave Chappelle, Bill Burr, Louis C.K., Whitney Cummings, Pete Davidson, and many others.
Other comedians had previously criticized peers who agreed to perform at the festival. Those critics pointed to Saudi officials' alleged roles in the September 11 attacks and the 2018 assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as well as human rights abuses connected to Saudi minister of entertainment Turki Al-Sheikh, who organized the event.
The Riyadh Comedy Festival decision was not the only offer Yankovic turned down on ethical grounds. He also revealed he had declined a "nice pile of money" to appear in an artificial intelligence advertisement. "I wish people would offer me things that I didn't feel bad about accepting," he said.
