Former basketball player and friend of Kim Jong Un Dennis Rodman received the most heat during Saturday night’s Comedy Central Roast of Bruce Willis at the Hollywood Palladium. According to The Daily Beast , various comedians, actors, and television personalities got up on stage to roast Rodman, whose own jokes landed particularly poorly.
Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt referred to Rodman as a “peacemaker” in his introduction, only to later say, “Dennis may be the only person on the planet who can prevent a nuclear war. So I guess this is goodbye.”
Comedian Nikki Glaser took a swing at Rodman’s sense of style and fashion, commenting, “Dennis is the only person who can wear a MAGA hat and have it be the least upsetting part of his wardrobe. Glaser also joked that Rodman has “whatever illness Roseanne has but in a giant black man.”
Even Martha Stewart approached the podium to poke fun at Rodman. “When I look at Dennis,” Stewart announced, “I immediately think of the ‘N-word’: nuclear war.”
When it was time for Rodman to approach the podium, however, his jokes were poorly received, mostly because they lacked any punchlines. After his first few seconds on stage, the stage manager came over to adjust his mic for him because he was too tall, instructing Rodman to start over.
For his first joke, Rodman commented on who he thought was the worst actor on stage, simply saying, “You all are.”
Whenever a joke failed to get laughs, Rodman “would chuckle to himself and say, ‘OK, on with the show.’” At one point, he repeated the same joke three times, telling the audience, “Let me get through this.”
He also told Martha Stewart to call him the next time she goes to jail, explaining, “I will secure your release.” Rodman, of course, was referring to the time he played a small role in getting American detainees released from North Korea.
When it came time to roast the guest of honor, Bruce Willis, Rodman ended up saying, “You keep making these bomb movies. But guess what? So does Kim Jong Un. But at least Kim is smart enough not to release his.” That joke also seemed to fall flat.
After Rodman’s set, comedian Jeff Ross got on stage, immediately saying, “Give it up for our next secretary of state, Dennis Rodman!” Going on to refer to the NBA champion as Kim Jong Unintelligible, Ross told Rodman, “You think Kim Jong Un is a nice guy and he thinks you’re Scottie Pippen.”
