--- title: "Weird Al Turns Down Huge Sum to Appear in Ad for AI" description: "Comedic musician \"Weird Al\" Yankovic says he turned down a boatload of money to star in a commercial for AI." date: "2026-07-03" modified: "2026-07-03" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/future-society/weird-al-yankovic-ai-ad" categories: - "Future Society" --- # Weird Al Turns Down Huge Sum to Appear in Ad for AI ![A stylized photo illustration featuring "Weird Al" Yankovic.]() *Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Emma McIntyre / Getty Images for SiriusXM; Shutterstock* Celebrities that you don't actually know probably shouldn't be your role models. Still, we'd be lying if we said we weren't a little inspired to hear about how comedic musician Alfred "Weird Al" Yankovic told the AI industry to "Eat It" after being approached to star in an ad. In an interview with [*Syracuse.com*]() spotted by AV Club, Yankovic dished on AI, saying he was "not a fan" of the tech, disliking it to the point that he's resisted the siren song of taking a payout to shill for its powers. As he tells it, he was offered "a nice pile of money" to star in a commercial before kickstarting his current tour. At first, the ad was pitched to him as for "business software that would increase productivity," which sounded innocuous enough. "And then a week before we're supposed to shoot it, I find out, oh, this is, it's AI," he continued. "And I thought, 'Oh no, I can't be the poster boy for AI, forget it." How hard was that? Weird Al isn't hurting for money, so of course he's in a position to say no to a bunch of cash. But plenty of your favorite celebrities haven't shown quite the same scruples. Everyman actor Matt Damon [starred in a Super Bowl commercial for Crypto.com](). Beloved goofball Larry David did [one for FTX](), the bankrupt and disgraced cryptocurrency exchange. And heartthrob Timothée Chalamet recently sent his fanbase into meltdown [after doing a commercial for the prediction market Kalshi](). No, it won't get Yankovic beatified. And maybe that we're even talking about this a sobering testament to just how common "getting that bag" is these days. But hey: it will help "Weird Al" secure his place in the rarefied canon of beloved celebrities that haven't completely sold out to Big Tech. Even if the decision was motivated more out of image-consciousness than personal ethics, at least he cares about not associating his name and face with an industry that pretty much everyone who doesn't work in it hates. **More on AI:** [*A24 Is Dealing With a Full-on Crisis Among Fans After Signing an AI Deal With Google*]() ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()