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Comedian Tim Dillon said on his podcast last month that he signed up for financial reasons. He said he had been offered “a large sum of money” — $375,000 for one performance — and said that other comedians had been offered as much as $1.6 million. He told his detractors to “get over it,” adding, “So what if they have slaves, they’re paying me enough to look the other way.”
This is the most fucking damning part. You’re accepting a paycheque that is so fucking small to boost an oppressive regime, for something that can barely buy a house or two in major cities? Like, if you wanted a decent house in london, 375K isn’t going to fucking cover it. Negociate properly if you’re going to sell out, at least bump it up to 8 or 9 figures. To MBS you’re literally worth the same amount of coins you’d give a homeless person.
They kicked him out for that callous joke, which is a hilarious cherry on top. All the comedians, many of them “free speech warriors,” agreed not to make any jokes about Saudi arabia.
USians have slaves, I don’t see anyone screaming about boosting an oppressive regime?
yeah, because when you build a stadium in the US, hundreds of people die 👍
Are you making a point that slaves in USA are treated better than slaves in Saudi Arabia?
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jun/15/us-prison-workers-low-wages-exploited
800.000 legal slaves in the USA make more than $11 000 000 000 (11 billion) of goods and services annually.
Good for them they are not killed at the end, eh?
Yea if this was some up and coming comedian I’d lean into you for saying 375k is not shit, but he makes over 200k a month on Patreon alone, probably more elsewhere too. That’s like if I sold my soul for few grand.
I would absolutely sell my soul for a few grand right now
Fuck it man, I’m doubling down.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millionaire#Historical_worth
Depending on how it is calculated, a million US dollars in 1900 is equivalent to $37.8 million (in 2024):[18] $24.8 million using the consumer price index, $61.4 million using the gold price[19]
Being a millionaire doesn’t mean shit anymore. It means you own a house in a city and are a well paid professional.
If the fucking Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia wants me to personally whitewash his terrible regime, he better get me eight figures at least. Otherwise it’s blood soaked chump change these days.
$24.8 million using the consumer price index, $61.4 million using the gold price
I’d say do it with housing price but I don’t think they’ve invented that number yet
A million invested could mean about 40k a year in passive income
What dogshit investment only pays 4%? Until the recent Fed rate change I was getting more than that on a savings account. Index funds have been consistently yielding 15-25% YOY.
Okay, this is going to be a completely off topic rant, but:
Being a millionaire doesn’t mean shit anymore. It means you own a house in a city and are a well paid professional.
That is an incredibly privileged thing to be able to say tbh.
It’s also why any young-ish American complaining they’re poor should shut the hell up. I’d be on track to becoming a millionaire if I was allowed to do my job in the US. But the country doesn’t want me, I’m too white to even consider an H-1B, those all go to Indian folk lol
In my country, to become a millionaire, I need to set up a business, scam people, and do tax evasion. Because the salaries in my field are at LEAST 5x lower. Remember when the big tech companies hired people out of boot camps and gave them 200k annual salaries? Those guys would’ve gotten hired at 1200-1500 a month here at the same time.
Ah, but since our salaries are lower, cost of living must be low too? Nope, actually cost of living in a nice and “cheap” American city like San Francisco is only 50% more than CoL in our capital.
I would’ve given a lot to spend my 20s being a software engineer in the US and then fuck off to a country with a nice climate, good healthcare and low cost of living before any actual need for the healthcare kicks in. Just wasn’t in the cards for me though.
That is an incredibly privileged thing to be able to say tbh.
how? I’m pointing out the financial situation has gone to such shit that having a house and a profession that pays what a profession is worth would make you a millionaire.
Note that I’m not saying that all professionals are millionaires or own houses; which is the fucked up part. No one is paying what things are fucking worth.
8.5% of Americans are millionaires. There are a few countries even higher than that, but in general, it’s significantly higher than most places in the world.
Put it this way: More than 50% of the entire world’s millionaires (in USD of course, not local currency) are Americans. But Americans are only ~4% of the world’s population.
It really is the land of opportunity IF you’re a professional doing… something.
ok, so why are you busting my balls? I don’t own a house , nor do I live in the US. Why are you saying I’m privilaged for pointing out that my fucking meager existence wouldn’t be all that impressive even if I was a millionaire, and that these fucking US comedians are undercharging the saudi pricks for the whitewashing they are doing?
I said it’s off topic and Americans need to start realising how good they actually have it financially. Just need to actually be good at something and that’s it.
He said he looks at the slip, sees the number, and says I’ll go. These degenerate comedians think being honest about how easy they are to buy is the same as being a decent person.
Comedians most days: We’re the real truth-tellers in the mold of Bill Hicks. We tell it like it is. Cancelling us is censorship!
Comedians when caught with their hand in the cookie jar: Hey, we’re just entertainers. It’s no big deal. Lighten up!
Aside from bill burr (and chappelle in the 90s) none of them are actual comedians…just pathetic entertainers with a laugh track. I am disappointed with burr, but everyone else was or has been shit long time
Agreed on the Bill Burr part.
He is the only one who I was surprised and disappointed to see attending. All those others are people who’d I expect to chase money over morals and I didn’t respect as individuals already.
I wonder how he is going to spin this.
I’m interested in how Billy spins this, but 90s stand up chappelle was incredibly important for the time and place at the time
Bill Burr will literally just say the money was good so he went, I’m pretty sure. He’s never seemed like the kinda guy to invent some spin
You’re right, I guess spin is the wrong word here since it is a PR term and Bill Burr isn’t a PR type of guy.
I intended to mean, I wonder what he will say about this when he is publicly asked about it.
I am assuming he will be blunt and honest with answers ranging from,
“it’s none of your damn business”
to
“I needed a new helicopter that has more than 2 seats so I can evacuate my family from LA safely once shit hits the fan and I don’t want to put myself in a Sofie’s Choice kinda situation”
or
“Sorry, I wasn’t thinking when I accepted the job but donated the paycheck to the 9/11 families fund.”
I’m assuming one of the first two lol
Funny thing is, he does have a helicopter and his helicopter pilots license. Which he got in case of emergencies. After the LA fires this year I saw an interview with him where he was talking about it.
He was making fun of himself because he got his license and the helicopter to flee things like the LA fire but helicopters are expensive and he couldn’t afford more than a 2-seater so he can’t take his whole family if he ever had to really use it.
So my comment was based off a real thing he may say as to why he needed the money.
Tbh though, I could see him going with that third one.
Agreed about 90s Chappelle… I think he would have had more empathy and understanding in selecting gigs than current Chappelle.
Can anybody give context? I’ll try googling too but confused snout the bill burr comments…
NPR had a good article couple days ago…imo a good starting place and it doesn’t go much deeper than that
https://www.npr.org/2025/09/27/nx-s1-5555462/saudi-comedy-festival-chappelle-hart-maron
So the article has a link to the “visit saudi” page with the line up. Some additional disappointments are hannibal burress, Omid Djalili (… not sure how dissapointed I should be of him, since I consider him a fellow ethnic minorty Brit, but he could be "the people in Riadh could do with a laugh,
just like when I was in Tehranthat MF is british born and raised), aziz ansari, Wayne Brady (I guess he was tired of looking like a bitch?) .But the jewel is the “about saudi” section which shows you what a fun holiday destination Saudi Arabia is :
Alcohol and Substances
Alcohol and narcotics are strictly prohibited by law, and violations can carry serious penalties.
General Conduct: Courtesy and modesty are highly valued.
Because nothing says “fun holiday” like “you better wear that burkha, and not drink anything, or your ass is going to jail for a very long time”.
You want soft power? Stop being an oppressive, economic hole, and be a place actually worth visiting. The reason Japan and Korea can get away with their horrid conservativism is that they allow artistic expression, and can maintain an economy and social presentability in a way that people aren’t fleeing the country/region in droves and foreigners want to experience their culture firsthand because it seems safe, novel and luxurious. Flavours of Ice cream and chocolate aren’t going to cut it.
(EDIT : The reason I mention economic issues is that the people that make the culture you need to be present to witness, like food, dances, theater works etc have already left the region. No one needs to go to the middle east for authentic shawarma. Sushi is available, but the idea of having “real sushi” in Japan has an allure that eating a “Real fallaffel” in Saudi Arabia does not. because it’s an overtly oppressive place. Even though there are plenty of places in Japan that will literally have “no foreigners” signs, which I doubt exist in Saudi Arabia)
The most notable recent cultural export from Saudi Arabia is Masameer county, and that’s not the kind of place anyone wants to visit… although I really had fun watching it. Doesn’t mean I want to go to Riyadh to live like those idiots, the same way I don’t want to go visit Nova Scotia after watching Trailer Park Boys.
EDIT2 : HAH! Not even fucking Masameer County is safe!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masameer
On June 26, 2024, Masameer creator Abdulaziz al-Muzaini announced that a Saudi court was prosecuting him with charges that he and his company had “sponsored and supported terrorism and homosexuality” in Masameer. The case had been set in motion in 2021, coinciding with the series’ release on Netflix. Muzaini was sentenced to 13 years in prison and a 13-year travel ban, increased to a 30-year travel ban following Muzaini’s attempt to appeal the verdict. As of August 2024, the case was pending an appeal to the Saudi Arabia Supreme Court.[8]
Way to cripple your only worthwhile cultural contribution to society since your formal founding. You are a constant disgrace to the Islamic Golden Age.
A recent U.S. State Department report on Saudi Arabia’s human rights record in 2024 listed abuses including “arbitrary or unlawful killings, disappearances, torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, and serious restrictions on freedom of expression and media freedom,” among other issues.
Sounds like 2025 in the US. Seems like the report was a blueprint.
They want Fringe but invite Americans?
americans have done gigs at fringe, hannibal burress (seen in this shameful BS) did shows at fringe and talked about them at his stand up
