Photo Credit: Weird Al Yankovic by Super Festivals / CC by 2.0
Weird Al reveals that he was offered a lucrative ad spot for productivity software, but he backed out once he realized the product involved AI. “I’m not a fan of AI.”
Parody king Weird Al Yankovic sat down for an interview with Syracuse.com ahead of his Syracuse stop on his Bigger & Weirder Tour, where he revealed that he was offered “a nice pile of money” to appear in a commercial for a productivity-focused business software. But once he realized the project involved AI, he backed out.
“I’m not going to mention any names, but they told me it was for a business. It was business software that would increase productivity,” said Yankovic. “I said, ‘Oh well, yeah, sure, I could do that.’ And then a week before we’re supposed to shoot it, I find out this is AI. And I thought, ‘Oh no, I can’t be the poster boy for AI, forget it.’ So I felt bad about kind of pulling out at the last minute. But yeah, I’m not down with that.”
The musician is very familiar with the “Weird AI” jokes that have cropped up online since the rise of artificial intelligence. But he has made it clear that he is “not a fan of AI.”
Meanwhile, besides his tour, Yankovic is working on a new Broadway musical, “Dare to Be Stupid: The Weird Al Musical.” He’s teaming up with Tony-winning director Alex Timbers of “Moulin Rouge!” fame and “Beetlejuice: The Musical” writers Scott Brown and Anthony King on an original story for the stage that features the artist’s biggest hits.
“I was surprised they wanted to even announce it at this point because, you know, things on Broadway move very, very slowly, and I don’t know when it’s going to hit the stage, but certainly not anytime in the near future,” Yankovic explained. “I can’t even tell you about all the other people that are involved, but unfortunately, I can’t even go into any more detail about it because it’s really just starting out.”
The Syracuse show on July 10 at the Empower Federal Credit Union Amphitheater will be his first concert in the city in nearly a decade. True to form, the show will feature his greatest hits, multiple costume changes, a video wall, and an eight-piece backing ensemble that includes his original band.
