Bill Burr Calls Out ‘Weak’ Journalists for Lacking Balls
It didn’t take long for Bill Burr to catch on to disingenuous journalists looking for a “Gotcha!” moment on the red carpet before Conan O’Brien accepted his Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. As Burr made his way into the venue, several reporters shoved microphones into his face fishing for soundbites that would burn up the news cycle for a few hours. Burr refused to play along.
One reporter tried to get Burr to pump up Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the murder of a healthcare CEO. “I was reading up, you know, that perhaps you’ve been supportive of what he did,” she said, trying to bait the hook. “What is your take on that?”
Burr called bullshit. “I don’t think you read up on it because I said what I felt about it, and I said what a lot of people said.”
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Wasn’t Burr interested in clarifying his remarks so the reporter could have a fresh soundbite? “No,” he said emphatically. “I’m not going to have some controversial moment so you can get clicks. I’m not doing that. I’m here for Conan. I’m not doing all of this. What are you going to bring up next, the Middle East?”
It was a perfect moment for Burr to remind everyone he was not a news pundit. “I went to summer school three out of four years in high school. I’m not qualified to talk about this.” If you want to talk about global warming, he scolded, ask someone else.
One would think Burr’s irritated clapback would be enough to shame the hacks into silence, but that’s not the way this group was wired. The next guy in line simply reloaded and tried again, asking Burr to comment on Elon Musk, his effect on the earth and recent boycotts against Tesla. (He clearly knew that Burr has gone off on Musk in recent weeks.)
Again, Burr wouldn’t play along. “I don’t watch the news,” he protested. “I have no idea what’s going on. I watch Instagram. I watch people wipe out on motorcycles. I watch lions and hyenas fight each other. These are the things that I do. I don’t think you should be asking a comedian.”
“A comedian on top of current events,” the reporter reminded him.
“You’re a journalist! That’s weak,” Burr snapped. “That’s you guys passing the buck. You guys need to have balls again, which you don’t. You guys used to have balls. You need to get your balls back.”
The grinning doofus with the microphone seemed unfazed by the comedian’s unwillingness to play the take-me-out-of-context game. But Burr sent a clear message to any enterprising muckrakers looking for an easy soundbite. “It’s not my job,” he concluded. “I’m a dancing clown.”
