Bill Burr slams Ben Shapiro, 'racists' who send offensive photos to him and his wife
Fri, August 1, 2025 at 6:29 PM GMT+2
Bill Burr is slamming criticism from some fans and commentators about becoming "woke."
The comedy superstar opened up to Vulture in an interview published Thursday, July 31, about conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, who said in a December column that he was a Burr fan until the comedian had "become woke."
The edgy funnyman told the outlet that Shapiro "doesn't even know what that word means," adding that their "definition of woke is white liberals' definition of woke, and they didn't even know what it was."
Burr called the behavior "treasonous" and said Shapiro "went there" with his comments "so he can then have something to talk about and then he can make money off dividing his own country." When Vulture pointed out Shapiro's goal – getting certain people online to talk about Burr – "worked," the comedian called the critics "racists."
"They send pictures of monkeys to me and my wife," Burr said, calling them "horrible people" and "cowards." Burr tied the knot with his actress and host wife Nia Renée Hill, who is Black, in 2013. The couple share two children.
"There’s an ugliness out there right now where if you’re a racist, if you’re an antisemite, if you’re a psycho nationalist and you want a softball interview, there’s podcasts out there where you can get one," Burr added, telling Vulture that they "they will laugh at" bad jokes and "give you this pass."
Bill Burr is slamming critics who send hateful photos to him and wife Nia Renée Hill.
Elsewhere in the interview, Burr – who called his brand of comedy "deliberately misunderstood" – said that "it's not just people with radio shows and podcasts" who misinterpret his jokes, adding that "fans do it" too.
Burr said that if he discusses politics at his shows, "I trash 'em both because that is my job." He continued: "I'm not flying either one of their flags; it's the people who pay them that's the problem. And they're always distracting us with other stuff," telling Vulture that CNN and Fox News are also a "disease."
Earlier this year, Burr made headlines during his "Drop Dead Years" press tour, which became an Elon Musk roast.
The comedian, who has made a number of media appearances to promote his latest stand-up special on Hulu, has picked apart the Tesla CEO and former Department of Government Efficiency leader, calling him and other tech billionaires "nerds" and "heartless."
"Why does Elon Musk dress like he just got out of a Hot Topic?" Burr told Jimmy Fallon during an appearance on "The Tonight Show" in March, adding that he was a "nerd, nobody banged you and now you have hair plugs in your laminated face."
"Everybody is afraid of these nerds, I don't get it. They're horrible, heartless people. And then, for some reason, if you say that, you're like a communist, and then we're in bed with the Russians," he continued.
Contributing: Taijuan Moorman
Bill Burr slams Ben Shapiro, 'racists' who send offensive photos to him and his wife
Jay Stahl, USA TODAYFri, August 1, 2025 at 6:29 PM GMT+2
Bill Burr is slamming criticism from some fans and commentators about becoming "woke."
The comedy superstar opened up to Vulture in an interview published Thursday, July 31, about conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, who said in a December column that he was a Burr fan until the comedian had "become woke."
The edgy funnyman told the outlet that Shapiro "doesn't even know what that word means," adding that their "definition of woke is white liberals' definition of woke, and they didn't even know what it was."
Burr called the behavior "treasonous" and said Shapiro "went there" with his comments "so he can then have something to talk about and then he can make money off dividing his own country." When Vulture pointed out Shapiro's goal – getting certain people online to talk about Burr – "worked," the comedian called the critics "racists."
"They send pictures of monkeys to me and my wife," Burr said, calling them "horrible people" and "cowards." Burr tied the knot with his actress and host wife Nia Renée Hill, who is Black, in 2013. The couple share two children.
"There’s an ugliness out there right now where if you’re a racist, if you’re an antisemite, if you’re a psycho nationalist and you want a softball interview, there’s podcasts out there where you can get one," Burr added, telling Vulture that they "they will laugh at" bad jokes and "give you this pass."
Bill Burr is slamming critics who send hateful photos to him and wife Nia Renée Hill.
Elsewhere in the interview, Burr – who called his brand of comedy "deliberately misunderstood" – said that "it's not just people with radio shows and podcasts" who misinterpret his jokes, adding that "fans do it" too.
Burr said that if he discusses politics at his shows, "I trash 'em both because that is my job." He continued: "I'm not flying either one of their flags; it's the people who pay them that's the problem. And they're always distracting us with other stuff," telling Vulture that CNN and Fox News are also a "disease."
Earlier this year, Burr made headlines during his "Drop Dead Years" press tour, which became an Elon Musk roast.
The comedian, who has made a number of media appearances to promote his latest stand-up special on Hulu, has picked apart the Tesla CEO and former Department of Government Efficiency leader, calling him and other tech billionaires "nerds" and "heartless."
"Why does Elon Musk dress like he just got out of a Hot Topic?" Burr told Jimmy Fallon during an appearance on "The Tonight Show" in March, adding that he was a "nerd, nobody banged you and now you have hair plugs in your laminated face."
"Everybody is afraid of these nerds, I don't get it. They're horrible, heartless people. And then, for some reason, if you say that, you're like a communist, and then we're in bed with the Russians," he continued.
Contributing: Taijuan Moorman
