‘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’

By Ethan Shanfeld

Ethan Shanfeld

Latest

• ‘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’ 22 minutes ago
• ‘Doctor Strange’ Director Says Elon Musk ‘Doesn’t Know S— About Cinema’ After Musk Vows to Make AI ‘Odyssey’: ‘His Opinions on Art Are Worthless’ 17 hours ago
• How Long Can ‘The Odyssey’ Stay on Imax 70mm Screens? Nolan Fans Scramble as New Showtimes Sell Out 7 Weeks in Advance 21 hours ago

After “Weird Al” Yankovic made headlines this month for backing out of an ad for AI software, the musical satirist revealed he also turned down an offer worth at least $1 million to perform at the Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia last year.

“I wish people would offer me things that I didn’t feel bad about accepting,” Yankovic told the Pennsylvania publication TribLive. “I don’t think I’ve mentioned this anywhere, but I was invited to the Riyadh Comedy Festival, which is something that I obviously did not want to do. 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. But I just couldn’t be part of that.”

Related Stories

Courtney Stodden Is Fighting for Something Bigger Than Jason Alexander’s Apology