Musician and comedy icon "Weird Al" Yankovic reportedly turned down an eye-watering "seven figures" to perform at Saudi Arabia’s controversial debut festival last year.In an interview with Pennsylvania’s Tribune-Review, the Grammy-winning parody artist revealed that he declined an invitation to perform at the inaugural Riyadh Comedy Festival last year, and that the idea of accepting Saudi money as payment made him "feel icky.""I was invited to the Riyadh Comedy Festival, which is something that 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 way more than I’ve ever been offered in my life to do a show."DAVE CHAPPELLE SAYS HE’S CONSIDERING REVISITING ‘CHAPPELLE’S SHOW’ DECADES AFTER WALKING AWAYWeird Al Yankovic performs during the 2026 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival on June 13, 2026, in Manchester, Tenn.
(Getty Images)Yankovic went on to assert that he does not look down on any performers who chose to appear at the controversial festival, which hosted approximately 6,000 attendees, but insisted that he could not stomach the implications of appearing at the event."But I just couldn’t be part of that," he continued."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 comedian previously made headlines after he declined to appear in an unspecified AI advertisement, saying he turned down yet another large sum by rejecting the offer.WHITNEY CUMMINGS CLAIMS LURID TRUMP JOKE WAS CUT FROM NETFLIX'S MARK TWAIN PRIZE SPECIALAn installation showcasing the Riyadh Comedy Festival is pictured at Boulevard City in the Hittin neighborhood of Riyadh on Oct.
6, 2025.(AFP via Getty Images)"I wish people wou...