‘Weird Al’ Yankovic Declines Saudi Arabia’s Festival Offer

Musician and comedian ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic reportedly declined a ‘seven-figure’ offer to perform at Saudi Arabia’s debut comedy festival last year. In an interview with Pennsylvania’s Tribune-Review, the Grammy-winning parody artist disclosed his decision to turn down the invitation to perform at the inaugural Riyadh Comedy Festival. Yankovic expressed that accepting Saudi payment made him ‘feel icky.’

“I was invited to the Riyadh Comedy Festival, which is something I obviously did not want to do,” Yankovic reportedly said. “They offered me, I’m not going to say how much, but it was seven figures to do one show, which is more than I’ve ever been offered in my life.”

Yankovic also mentioned that while he did not criticize performers who accepted the invitation, he could not reconcile with the idea of appearing at the controversial event, which hosted approximately 6,000 attendees. “I’m not dissing anybody that took the money because I’m sure everybody that went there got a lot of money. But I just couldn’t be part of that,” he added.

Yankovic turned down a substantial offer for an AI advertisement as well, expressing similar feelings.

Fox News Digital reported harsh criticism from the comedy world in response to last year’s festival. ‘Real Time’ host Bill Maher and others voiced their opinions. Maher questioned comedian Dave Chappelle’s claims about free speech in Saudi Arabia and asked if Chappelle would consider performing a routine about the Prophet Muhammad to test his statements.

Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel also engaged in a conversation with comedian Aziz Ansari about his performance at the festival, mentioning the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Ansari responded that he aimed to engage with the audience and introduce outside ideas in a young country where half the population is under the age of 25.

Fox News Digital reached out to Yankovic and the General Entertainment Authority in Saudi Arabia for comments.