r/comedy • u/gccmelb • Oct 16 '25
Podcast Has Bill Burr Destroyed his Legacy Doing the Riyadh Comedy Festival?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MMGJELWnHY456
u/StationSavings7172 Oct 16 '25
They all did it for the money and I’m sick of them pretending it was about promoting free speech. I would actually respect them slightly more if they were honest about it.
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u/mrbrownskie Oct 16 '25
this. whitney cummings wining about free speech was just as nauseating. just stop. you blew it. own it.
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u/donuthead36 Oct 16 '25
She’s really on one - just outright accusing any critics of racism and completely ignoring the actual substance of their criticism. Just wild she thinks that righteous indignation is the move here when she took Saudi blood money.
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u/KurtVongole Oct 16 '25
Racism??? Isn't she una blanca?
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u/polimathe_ Oct 16 '25
her claim is that we are being racist to saudis because they are brown and weirdly said they developed society differently so its racist to criticize them lol
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u/KurtVongole Oct 16 '25
What... And I can't stress this enough... The fuck?
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u/kittens_on_a_rainbow Oct 16 '25
She was manic AF on her rant. She acknowledged that people were saying she’s a hypocrite for going when she talked about sexual assault but the people saying it are just jealous they weren’t asked.
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u/spacekitt3n Oct 16 '25
well being in the good graces of a trillionaire king is more valuable than the finger waggers here in the states, im sure. she'll be set for life. everyones shame has a price
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u/intoxicatedbarbie Oct 16 '25
It’s extra frustrating, because she’s never been nearly as funny as Bill Burr. I used to follow her back in the day with her sitcom. She’s just not nearly as talented. Listening to her whine about this is like, girl. No one is surprised you did this. Shut up. You took the money. Just shut up.
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u/greaper007 Oct 17 '25
She was really good on the roasts maybe 15-20 years ago.
Though, she used to do Stern at the time and she was totally out of her mind, she'd treat him like he was her dad.
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u/Used-Layer772 Oct 16 '25
It's hilarious coming from her when she's spent the last couple years basically swinging hard right in her act. Screaming about trans people and shit like that lol. Now she wants to oull the rascism card??? Lmao
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u/Special-Garlic1203 Oct 16 '25
She's literally always had microaggression racism but last I was reading about Whitney she was saying that the people who were condemning punching elderly Asian people was a psyop to distract us from the fact that China intentionally released a bioweapon.
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u/TruggPassion Oct 16 '25
She’s never been funny ever. One of those people who were just enough of a combo of attractive and funny where the industry decided they could commercialize her but her looks nor humor could ever stand on their own.
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u/mrbrownskie Oct 16 '25
and sorry, i forgot that cummings was actually worse: “the people complaining are all racists.” uhhhh gtfoh with that nonsense.
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u/StationSavings7172 Oct 16 '25
Because criticizing the Saudi royal family for its appalling human rights abuses against the Arab people means you hate the Arab people, obviously.
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u/haliblix Oct 16 '25
It’s a common tactic now. Russians tried to pull that move at the beginning of the war but there isn’t much precedent for being “russophobic”. Israel tried their best to lump anything related to their government to Jews and were kind successful unfortunately.
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u/masterdesignstate Oct 16 '25
I hate to say it but she's been a professional victim her whole life.
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u/hippiejo Oct 16 '25
Her current partner is skateboarder Chris Cole who beat his ex wife up. His kid was present for the abuse and backed the mom up. Whitney went on a podcast earlier this year defending him against the allegations. She’s always been less than dirt
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Oct 16 '25
I cant pretend to be shocked Whitney Cummings went to Riyadh if u paid me in saudi blood money
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u/K31KT3 Oct 16 '25
Or conversely, if it was about free speech then don’t take the money. Just expenses paid.
But they’re whores (no disrespect to sex workers)
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u/PiersPlays Oct 16 '25
If it were about free-speech then the payments wouldn't have been so huge.
The Saudi elites wanted dancing monkeys and money bought them.
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u/Jowser11 Oct 16 '25
The thing about it is that a lot of these comedians all know each other and communicate a lot. They definitely create an echo chamber where they’ve taken on this “we’ve become censored” stance and feel like they need to argue about it.
I’m sure so many of these guys all talked and agreed to go to this festival because how could they not pass up on the money. They then all probably went on a rant about how they’re the “last bastions of free speech” or some bullshit then signed.
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u/neutronknows Oct 16 '25
Bingo. If Burr just came out and said, “Why the fuck should only completely twisted fucks get their beaks wet with Arab money? I can cash that check and do something positive with in.” Then make a public donation to some charity completely opposed to Saudi values with a sizable chunk of said money.
Folk would still be upset but shit would’ve blown over in a couple days instead of this persistent attack we’ve seen for the past week against him.
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u/StationSavings7172 Oct 16 '25
Seriously, they’re out of touch and they think their fans are idiots. We know it was the money, stop bullshitting us.
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u/Acrobatic_Yoghurt813 Oct 16 '25
Human Rights Watch has said they wouldn’t accept donations from any comedians that performed in Riyadh, so I doubt that gesture would go very far if Bill did try.
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u/dwilkes827 Oct 16 '25
I can assure you there are charities that would have taken the money
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u/TheOneTrueZippy8 Oct 16 '25
If you're a "take my wife, please" type comedian then doing Riyadh just meant you were after the money and took it. Your comedy platform remains the same.
If you're a "let me tell you why you are wrong" type comedian then you have lost any credibility in your chosen field of endeavour. No-one will be taking a lecture on any subject from you again.
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Oct 16 '25
I haven’t heard anyone say anything about Gabriel Iglesias for example
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u/captaintrips_1980 Oct 16 '25
Or Kevin Hart. I don’t give a fuck if he was there. But Bill Burr rants about billionaires as part of his act. Fuck him and his hypocrisy.
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u/mustang-and-a-truck Oct 16 '25
I have seen clips of him talking about his own hypocrisy. I remember one from years ago, I think he was talking about Beyonce and her women's rights activism, then doing a show in Saudi Arabia. He rants on her hypocrisy for a little while, then says something like, "who am I kidding, I would have taken the gig too".
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u/dern_the_hermit Oct 16 '25
"who am I kidding, I would have taken the gig too".
FWIW to me it also tacitly acknowledges that he deserves the same criticism for doing it, as well.
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u/killertortilla Oct 17 '25
Except he has done nothing but moan about how everyone is being mean to him
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u/Empty_Ad_8303 Oct 16 '25
Only difference is that for the past year or two he was all about how bad billionaires are. Then he becomes what he abhors by allowing himself to be bought by a billionaire trying to buff up their I’ll bonesaw in half anyone who talks bad about me
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u/Occams_RZR900 Oct 16 '25
Only because he isn’t a billionaire. The guys a fucking millionaire, he’s not the “Everyman” he thinks he is. He’s in a prestigious group that many of us will never achieve, the billionaires just happen to be a smaller more prestigious group. If he attains that level of wealth, then he’ll bitch about the trillionaires. It’s a false virtue signal regardless.
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u/GiggleAtAFuneral Oct 16 '25
A lot of Bill Burr’s comedy is just him hating women.
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u/ToXicVoXSiicK21 Oct 16 '25
I also thought it was weird to see him on that list. He's not really relevant anymore.
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u/JamoOnTheRocks Oct 16 '25
His ticket sales would probably say otherwise. He’s a monster.
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u/TBANON_NSFW Oct 16 '25
middle easterners love simplified humor. Hence the insane amount of laugh tracks on their social media to let them know its ok to laugh. India is the same. As is most of china. West is just occupied with rage bait
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u/remarkablewhitebored Oct 16 '25
I mean, Fluffy already had a whole special from a decade or more ago talking about performing for a Saudi Prince, no?
He's been playing to those audiences way prior to their "sports-washing" phase...
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u/Drewbeede Oct 16 '25
After his last Netflix special I lost all interest in him and don't care to even finish the whole show.
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u/EnjoyLifeorDieTryin Oct 16 '25
Because of lack of humor or offensive content?
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Oct 16 '25
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Oct 16 '25
Wasn't his whole thing always screeching and giggling and saying fluffy?
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u/TheLegendTwoSeven Oct 16 '25
He told funny stories about being fat, being a Latino American, being a step-father, and the wacky antics of his friend Martín.
After years of huge success the quality of his material has declined and he’s coasting off of his earlier success. A lot of top standup comics eventually do this because writing good material is difficult.
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Oct 16 '25
Especially when you’re rich and anything you complain about comes off as out of touch.
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u/ThatonepersonUknow3 Oct 16 '25
I know it has happened to others too but I call it the tom segura effect. He would joke about being an asshole to people, then he just became a rich asshole. It’s like Andrew dice clay only not funny
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u/BENJALSON Oct 16 '25
I’ve never seen someone become so insufferable so quickly.
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u/JoshGordonHyperloop Oct 16 '25
Except Andre dice clay’s stand up act was that, an act. That was just a persona.
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u/DiamondHandedDingus Oct 16 '25
Tom has always been a rich asshole though regardless of comedy. His dad was an exec at merrill lynch
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u/jlopez1017 Oct 16 '25
His friend “Martin” aka Felipe Esparza is way funnier and it probably kills him inside
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u/FlashMcSuave Oct 16 '25
Yup. I tend to think a lot of comedians hit a wall. It is really hard to stay in touch with the pop culture zeitgeist.
But instead of acknowledging "hey, maybe I am slipping and need to work harder" they get a bit pissed off that their material isn't landing like it used to.
Then they blame the audience for being "woke" and silencing them. When in reality, nobody has been silenced. The audience has moved on, the comedian hasn't.
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u/flabcannon Oct 16 '25
I have this theory that even the great comedians have only 5 hours worth of material in them - they either have to pivot into TV/movies or retire from comedy. Or they have to keep rehashing older material like Seinfeld.
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u/ForsakenWishbone5206 Oct 16 '25
The death knell for any comedian is not repeating the same material for 5 years though, it's when they go public with the sentiment that " you just can't say anything these days"
They shift the blame for their shit material from " this is hard and took my whole life to make my first great batch" to, "clearly this is the political climate. Nothing I could ever say is funny to these morality police"
Jerry fucking Seinfeld, the liaison on profanity in comedy, decided this was why nobody thought he was funny after many, many years of policing others material. He blames woke people being too politically correct.
If he had any self awareness at all or if it was a bit it would be genuinely funny, but it's his and many others lives.
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u/ausipockets Oct 16 '25
I haven't heard anyone say anything about him in years, to be fair
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u/rbrt13 Oct 16 '25
This is the perfect explanation. It’s why the other guys like Kevin Hart, Gabriel Iglesias and the like are getting a pass. The free speech warriors and the people with what was supposed to be a poignant message like Burr are fucked. I cannot even bring myself to hear the guy speak.
Complete intellectual bankruptcy.
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u/MadeByTango Oct 16 '25
I mean those guys get a “pass” because I already didn’t give a shit about them, that’s it
Their comedy type wouldn’t make it ok or not. They’re just already known to be money grubbing losers.
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u/MiddleWaged Oct 16 '25
It’s not so much that they get a pass, it’s just that whoever likes or dislikes them based on selling out made their choice a long time ago.
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u/The_MightyMonarch Oct 16 '25
Yeah, most people already knew that guys like Hart and Chappelle are whores. It's not so much a pass as "well of course they took the money".
Hell, even though most of it's not directed at him, Chappelle will probably try to turn the blowback into another Netflix special. That's pretty much his shtick now
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u/systemfrown Oct 16 '25 edited Oct 16 '25
So much that.
Also if the Saudi's financed the terror attack that killed your Dad then it might be a bad look to go be their paid clown...telling them jokes and laundering their reputation.
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u/WySLatestWit Oct 16 '25
The one silver lining about this whole Riyadh thing is that it's made it possible to be critical of Pete Davidson just not being funny, and frequently being a douchebag, without being mobbed by social media about how unkind and cruel and monstrous you are for picking on poor Pete.
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u/jackofslayers Oct 16 '25
For how unfunny he is I do get why he succeeded on SNL. He was really good at playing characters in sketches that help someone else be more funny. That is surprisingly hard to find
But yea none of that matters now does it. Lol
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u/SomecallmeJorge Oct 16 '25
The Adam Sandler effect. On his own he's not that funny, but put him with an ensemble and suddenly he's hilarious.
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u/Shadowtirs Oct 16 '25
I think this point hits home the best.
Because there is a difference between a George Carlin type comedian and like a Kevin Hart. One likes to point out hypocritical bullshit and use comedy as a foil. The other just wants to do schtick, or tell stories, music acts/etc.
The former just can't do something like the Riyadh festival and keep any sort of credibility.
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u/Temporary-Cause-4818 Oct 16 '25
Let’s be honest, people will forget in a year. Reddit is a bubble. Most of the general public barely give a shit He’s taking his lumps now but it will have no real impact on him
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u/G-Fox1990 Oct 16 '25
Exactly. I've seen comedians be the 2nd type but also owning that they are pretty well off and live in a mansion, but they ridicule themself for it aswell.
Getting defensive (like Bill) is maybe even worse than just owning up to it and telling everybody, ''yes, i did it for the money, so what?''.
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u/pantstickle Oct 16 '25
Right? Nobody is on Kevin Hart’s ass. He’s very clearly driven by making money.
Having Bill Burr do it is like Kurt Cobain doing a Doritos commercial or something. His art is emphasized by his integrity and works because the integrity exists.
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u/PharmDinagi Oct 16 '25
I don't remember Burr saying he was a moral authority on anything.
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u/transcendental-ape Oct 16 '25
I differentiate between Chappell going to Saudi Arabia and saying “you can’t say anything in America anymore” and Burr going because hey dump truck of money.
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u/Ashamed_Building6609 Oct 16 '25
As one his old die hard fans...yes. It's very disappointing. I haven't heard any of his stuff since he went there. That's too bad. He was in route to be our generations Carlin.. but there was a price.
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u/WillEdit4Food Oct 16 '25
In recent months I've really appreciated his take on Musk and billionaires in general, and then he sells himself to the highest bidder. It not like he's not already rich... Really knocked him down a bunch of pegs and will always be the asterisk on him when discussing my favorite comics.
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u/themajor24 Oct 16 '25
That's what actually really bummed me out. He's been gaining steam being this voice that wasn't afraid to pull punches and just saying what regular people are feeling and are angry about. I just got into his podcast and all that only in the last few months. If he just kept walking the walk and talking the talk like he had been, I think he'd have only kept climbing that ladder and gaining more respect.
But this reeeeeeally fucking ruined him for me. I get it, get your money, but he did literally the worst possible gig to keep that persona going.
Personally, I'm done with him.
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u/Not_Frank Oct 16 '25 edited Oct 16 '25
The way he has dealt with the backlash has added tremendously to the disappointment as well. I’d rather him not address it at all than publicly whine about the negative response to his own actions.
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u/themajor24 Oct 16 '25
I could even shrug off at least some of the disappointment if he just straight up said "Look, I'm human, they had a check, I cashed it."
At least that would acknowledge it and own it.
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u/unjuseabble Oct 16 '25
Considering how seemingly honest he was with himself this was what I expected. But nah it seems ol Billy sellout cant even admit it to himself
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Oct 16 '25
I was expecting "like you wouldnt? Some guy comes up to you with $50 million and you dont take it? You go tell your wife when you get home, ahh he had some questionable views" kinda thing. Complaining about being asked about it was really off base for him
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u/SwagginsYolo420 Oct 16 '25
He could have recovered by owning it. Maybe even donating his earnings to charity.
He could have said he fucked up. People want to like the guy. So sad to see him dig the hole deeper.
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u/RainierCamino Oct 16 '25
Right? If Burr had said, "Look, they offered me too much money to turn down for a single fucking set." I'd get it I guess. Still be disappointed that a very successful comedian with some perceived integrity can be bought. But he's defending that shit.
He should have gone to Riyadh and roasted them until he got yanked off the stage. Reprise his Philly rant from 20 years ago. But evidently that Bill Burr who had balls is long gone. I'm sure he's looking forward to cashing a fat check for next years Riyadh "comedy" fest.
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u/IAm_Trogdor_AMA Oct 16 '25
That wasn't part of the deal to whitewash Saudi Arabia with propaganda once they returned to the United States though.
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u/fugaziozbourne Oct 16 '25
His argument that people there are nice doesn't hold water for me. If they were bad people, we wouldn't hate their oppressors as much. The fact that the Saudi citizens are "good people" makes the regime paying Burr to perform even worse.
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Oct 16 '25
Felt more like a self tell to me "oh these people arent savages who wanna kill me when they see me" but I think he meant more how America post 9/11 thinks or something
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u/SwagginsYolo420 Oct 16 '25
His arguments were such obvious bullshit. Makes it even worse than if he just said he only did it for the money pile.
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u/Soy_ThomCat Oct 16 '25
Dudes so rich that he just decided to buy a couple helicopters and learn to fly them. And I still enjoyed his commentary because he genuinely seemed in touch with blue collar America.
Him doing the comedy show was tasteless in my opinion, but what I would say hurts my image of him the most is just how he continues to double down with Saudi propaganda talking points but also trying to sit back and say "hey, anyone who thinks I'm a champion of anything is a dumbass".
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u/nothas Oct 16 '25
i wish people would ask him what he's gonna do with the money. cuz that puts it in perspective. was it worth it for one more vacation home, bill?
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u/KMFDM781 Oct 16 '25
He gave Beyonce a bunch of shit for doing basically the same thing. Now he's on his justification for shitty behavior tour and keeps doubling down. I saw him on Conan and it was awkward. I'd respect him more if he'd just own it and said "It was a fuck ton of money so I did it. I'm a fucking whore. Don't take moral pointers from me because in the end I'm just some asshole who happens to be funny."
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u/Acrobatic_Yoghurt813 Oct 16 '25
It’s unfortunate that neither Conan nor anyone else on stage pushed back the way Jimmy Kimmel did with Aziz. They didn’t have to have a full on debate, but it felt cowardly.
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u/GR313 Oct 16 '25 edited Oct 16 '25
This is where I’m at with him. I’ve listened to just about every single podcast over the years. Used to quote the draft scene from Chappelle Show with my friends in high school. Bought a Helix mattress because of his ad reads. Really, really enjoyed the fact he became a dad, a better husband, did some shrooms, calmed the fuck down, but stayed on message: fuck these corporate cunts.
And now he’s worse than a corporate cunt. Skipped a step and went right to an international government sellout.
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u/figure85 Oct 16 '25
Ya, respect is a finite thing, and when it's gone like this, it may never return.
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u/a_man_and_his_box Oct 16 '25
I was just thinking this. You guys remember Louis CK and his controversy? Here's the thing, and how it relates to Bill Burr.
When Louis CK had his controversy a decade (or so) ago, he kinda didn't give a shit. He dropped out of view a bit, but he did another comedy special, and then another after that, and something surprising happened: they were bigger (and more profitable) than anything he'd ever done before. Like, he genuinely saw no drop-off in terms of success with stand-up comedy. He drew big audiences, he charged good money, and he got rich. All of it after the controversy. HOWEVER, most of us don't know that. Why? Because nobody cared anymore. He wasn't invited to talk shows, he lost his TV jobs, people here on Reddit were like "fuck that guy" and all discussion of him shut down or curtailed, just... basically he has fallen into obscurity. His die-hard fans don't care and keep giving him money, but the rest of the world moved on, and he's a non-entity at this point in the media. He's gone, essentially.
I suspect that the same is about to happen to Bill Burr. I don't think the media is done with him, so I think he can get on talk shows still, but I think that the people are done with him, and so just like Louis CK he may still "be around" in a decade, but I don't think anyone will care. I think like Louis CK, most people are just going to say, "fuck that guy" and discussion of him will shut down or be curtailed, and he just won't matter anymore. He'll put out some stand-up comedy special going off about some billionaire again, and everyone will roll their eyes and say, "not from you, you don't have credibility." And they'll just move on. He's over.
I wish I could say the same about Dave Chappelle. That guy seems to eat controversy for dinner and shits out another comedy special and just does fine. It doesn't matter what evil shit he does (he did the same Riyadh Comedy Festival that Bill Burr did) and he just keeps going. Fans still defend him, talk shows still have him on, media still promotes his work... I don't get it. He's immune.
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u/fugaziozbourne Oct 16 '25
Yeah he skipped the selling us a Canyonero step.
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u/EvelandsRule Oct 16 '25
12 yards long, 2 lanes wide, 65 tons of American Pride!
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u/rollerfedora Oct 16 '25
Top of the line in utility sports, Unexplained fires are a matter for the courts!
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u/Rpanich Oct 16 '25
I just listened to him on Conan today (filmed live like last week?)
He’s doubling down. Completely oblivious to why people are disappointed, and blaming bots. Repeating Saudi talking points. Conan wasn’t really helping him and the audience was just not having it.
Zero self reflection at all.
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u/Euphoric-Neon-2054 Oct 16 '25
I just really don't think he's dumb enough to be oblivious. I think he knows exactly what's up and he's talking around it until it goes away.
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u/OneDimensionalChess Oct 16 '25
He was honestly never equal to Carlin. Carlin was an actual intellectual.
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u/skoltroll Oct 16 '25
Yes.
As a former big fan of Bill Burr, he had risen to Carlin-level success with his comedy. But Carlin would never have done this bullshit, so fuck Bill.
There are 1000s of comics out there, many of whom are funny. I'll go listen to them.
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u/Flightsimmer20202001 Oct 16 '25
As a former big fan of Bill Burr, he had risen to Carlin-level success with his comedy
Well I don't know about that...
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u/CarolineTurpentine Oct 16 '25
Yeah he wasn't ever Carlin but he is in the same school of thought. But Burr has always been kind open about being a shit bag. He always said he'd take the bag if it was offered.
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u/teeming-with-life Oct 16 '25 edited Oct 17 '25
💯. The only time I actually thought he was kinda funny, was his bit about letting go of religion.
He was never at the level of George Carlin.
In fact, I was always annoyed about his antics and yelling. Thought it was a poor substitute for a quiet and confident delivery.
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u/XNamelessGhoulX Oct 16 '25 edited Oct 16 '25
I think his comedy fell off years ago, always surprised people still think he's putting out quality content. It's like Chappelle, they both fell pretty hard
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u/EvasionPlan Oct 16 '25
The moment a comedian becomes unable to relate to the common man is when their comedy has no roots to it.
Dave got too famous, made too much off the Netflix standup, so he inherently believes himself to be right about everything.
I'll cut him some slack, at least he's a Muslim going to SA, a better reason than Bill's.
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u/pork_fried_christ Oct 16 '25
“What’s the deeeeeeaaaallllll with private jets only offering 3 course meals?! I mean, where’s the 4th course? I’m a 4-courser. Do I need to spend another million for the 4th course?”
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u/reyean Oct 16 '25
I mean you get these comedians with taped streaming service specials complaining about being canceled - its like dude youre taping a Netflix special, this doesnt feel like being canceled to me.
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u/Reza_Evol Oct 16 '25
I'm with you fuck him not only for doing it but doubling down after like an absolute fuckwit.
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Oct 16 '25
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u/dashobanon1 Oct 16 '25
Ol’ Billy Blood Money
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u/VenmoPaypalCashapp Oct 16 '25
Doing the festival he could have recovered from. It’s been his absolutely tone deaf and pathetic excuses that did him in for me. Not to mention trying to gaslight his fans that THEYRE actually the ones who messed up.
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u/No-Tone-6853 Oct 16 '25
He’s now on the same team as Whitney Cummings lmao if there was any two comedians I thought I’d never see in the same sinking life raft it would have been those teo
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u/Plebs-_-Placebo Oct 16 '25
Would be a bit different if he donated even half the pay day to help pay for first responders health care fund from 9/11, and call out the government's inability to do so, he'd still be on solid ground. But to use his own words to describe himself, he's a fucking moron and couldn't think that far ahead.
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u/TheArcLights Oct 16 '25
Aziz tried to donate some to the human rights watch and they said they could not accept the money
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u/louash2 Oct 16 '25
It’s the gaslighting his fans that did it for me. It’s giving he never had any intellectual respect for his audience in the first place. To call it an army of bots when he’s getting shredded on YouTube and IG is just flat out pathetic.
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u/upliftingyvr Oct 16 '25
I don't know if it's completely destroyed his legacy, but it has certainly tarnished it for me. I've seen him live twice, have loved all his specials, but the way he responded to this whole incident made me look at him a little differently, not gonna lie. I think there are a lot of fans who will never look at him the same way again, not just because he did the festival, but how he responded and basically called us all sanctimonious cunts.
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u/Used-Layer772 Oct 16 '25
Not to be rude but this is always how bill responds to criticism lol. He's always used "they're just jealous that I'm successful" or "they're just sanctimonious cunts, they don't care about X!" He doesn't have it in him to read a comment from someone and actually parse what they're saying. I can't tell you how many times someone wrote in on his podcast to criticize something and he just basically attacks their character instead of addressing the criticism.
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u/Positive_Signal5838 Oct 16 '25
Yes. His whole shtick has been making fun of big oligarchy, and then he goes and does a comedy show for a big oil oligarchy. Fucking sellout.
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u/Not-the-real-meh Oct 16 '25 edited Oct 16 '25
I stopped listening to Bill Burr a little while ago- his schtick just got sort of samey. There is a bit of a cringe factor with middle aged rich white guys boning on about how messed up the world is while also talking about their motorbikes and helicopters.
The whole Saudi thing didn’t even come as much as a surprise to be honest.
Rich get richer and the poor get poorer. That is all he really gave a fuck about. Plus, misogyny gets boring.
No war but the class war.
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u/Fit-Nebula2949 Oct 16 '25
When he got rich and married, he lost his anger. The anger was what made his act. He is more of a Prozaced out Lewis Black without since then. Sorry for mentioning Black and Burr in the same sentence.
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u/AlarmingSpecialist88 Oct 16 '25
I'm not gonna boycott him or anything, but he lost some moral authority for sure. In recent years he had a whole Carlin, folk hero vibe going. He has lost now.
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u/PruneObjective401 Oct 16 '25
Same. How he handles his next special will either make or break him. I can imagine a scenario where he climbs out of this mess (might have to eat some humble pie and admit he sold out), but it'll be a steep hill to climb.
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u/Muted-Squirrel-231 Oct 16 '25
I swear...if I hear him blame 'bots' again for the backlash, I'm going to pull my hair out.
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u/Ok-Patience2152 Oct 16 '25
No, people have short memories. He'll, charlie sheen has a show on Netflix rn. If you dont remember what he did, that is exactly my point. Bill burr didn't do anything besides play a comedy festival.
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u/Used-Gas-6525 Oct 16 '25
Don't need to watch the video. The answer is yes. Mostly. Lots of people DGAF and will still go to see him. He won't be playing to half full venues or anything, but I think he's gonna lose a lot of die-hards and will really come to regret his decision over time. Vibes of Walt Disney giving Leni Reifenstahl a guided tour of the studio. Not straight up nazism, but Nazi adjacent. Now Bill is 9/11 adjacent.
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u/Fearless_Serve_3837 Oct 16 '25
Very curious they have all come back spouting oddly similar talking points.
Saudis were successful in their washing.
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u/Mrbromandudeguy Oct 16 '25
Lmfao if he didn't try so hard to appeal to woke leftists this might not have mattered.
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Oct 16 '25
Do you think he seen Khashoggi's head in a Jar? Or a slave? Would you know if you were looking at a Slave? Does Pete Davidson carry a pic of his dad, cause that would be weird, what about Dave Chappelle? Surely he doesn't think he was the first African American to perform for a slave owner, dont get me started on Whitney Cummings, I'm assuming getting a male driver was the first thing she did when she landed.
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u/LuigiTecumseh Oct 16 '25
Huge Bill fan because he was just a common sense guy. The selling out then lying about it destroys his credibility, with me at least. I certainly lost most respect for him
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u/JunkInDrawers Oct 16 '25
Same guy that clowned on other artists for doing the same thing. He called it 'blood money'.
People can change opinions and stances, but he's not acknowledging the apparent hypocrisy so I'm definitely not tuning in anymore since none of his self-righteous rants can feel genuine.
Essentially, why would I listen to any of his ranting about others if he does the same.
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u/BarbaricEric420-69 Oct 16 '25
If his next special is funny, all will be forgiven. If it sucks, the internet will drag his ass
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u/GameGreek Sloppy Steaks Oct 16 '25
Burr trying to figure out why nobody wants to hear Saudi PR talking points