Chris D’Elia used a recent episode of his Congratulations podcast to explain how he ended up attached to a Turning Point USA comedy booking, and what happened after his name was posted publicly before anything was finalized.
D’Elia said the offer came through normal channels and he agreed in general terms before details were settled.
“I go, ‘Yeah, yeah, I love doing comedy. Let me put you in touch with my manager.’ I put them in touch with my manager. And then I was like, ‘What do they want me to do?’ And they’re like, ‘The and he said, “They want you to do 20 minutes of comedy. You can roast them, whatever.”‘ I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, maybe I’ll do that.'”
He said the situation escalated once his involvement was announced online alongside other names tied to the event.
“It was a mixup that I was posted on this. Okay. And when I tell you people were coming for my head. I mean they’re like… First of all, there was no ‘Hey what’s this all about?'”
D’Elia placed responsibility on the booking process rather than the organization itself, while acknowledging his own role.
“This was a simple mistake, dude. And it’s nobody’s fault except probably my managers, okay? So, well, you know what? I take responsibility, actually, because I should have just… I’m so aloof, dude.”
He described the online reaction as disproportionate, recounting comments accusing him of being “complicit in war [ ],” which he dismissed. He also pushed back on the idea that accepting money from a political-leaning organization reflected any personal stance.
“I would do a show for Barack Obama. I would do a show for Hillary Clinton, JD Vance. I don’t give a [ ] dude. Bags.”
From there, D’Elia pivoted to a comparison he said gets overlooked, referencing comedians who performed at the Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia.
“Remember when I was making fun of all those comics that went to Saudi Arabia, by the way, where the [ ] happened to them? Nobody gives a [ ] about that. They still go to their shows.”
He clarified that his issue wasn’t with comedians broadly, but specifically with performers who built public identities around the Me Too movement before taking part in the festival.
“I’m not knocking all of the comics. I’m knocking the people who were the head of the Me Too movement and then went to Saudi Arabia and went to do those shows. Okay, y’all could go [ ] yourself.”
D’Elia framed both situations as examples of selective outrage, arguing that criticism tends to depend on who is being booked rather than consistent principle. He said he doesn’t align with either political side and doesn’t plan to start, calling himself unbothered by backlash tied to bookings he considers apolitical.
“I am absolutely way more free than I was,” he noted.
He closed the segment reiterating that he was simply trying to work, calling the entire episode a “big mixup” rather than a scandal.
