Comedian Bill Burr questioned why corporate leaders need heightened security and suggested they should examine their actions after the killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, according to a Rolling Stone interview published Tuesday and quotes carried in the source article.
What Burr told Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone quoted Burr reacting to executives’ response to the case involving Luigi Mangione: “The response to the Luigi thing was not to be like, ‘Well, hey, maybe we need to look at what we’re doing if what we’re doing makes some crazy person do this.’ [Executives’] response was to take their faces off of the internet and get security.”
He continued, “It’s like, you don’t think you need to examine? You know what I mean? It’s like, you’re not the president. You’re just the CEO of a business. Why do you need this level of security? Like, what is it that you’re doing?”
The interview also quoted Burr criticizing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, saying whites are “not nearly upset as we need to be because we don’t see ourselves going into the van.”
Earlier remarks: ‘Free Luigi’ and CEOs “should be” afraid
Soon after Thompson’s killing in December 2024, Burr said on his podcast that “f**king CEOs are f**king afraid right now,” adding they “should be,” according to the source article.
Weeks later, on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! in early 2025, Burr said, “Free Luigi!” The host laughed; the source article notes it is unclear whether Burr meant the line as a joke.
What polls captured after the killing
The source article cites a CloudResearch poll conducted in the immediate aftermath of Thompson’s killing reporting that 25% of self-identified liberals were “supportive or very supportive” of the murder, and 68% expressed at least some sympathy toward Mangione.
It also cites an Emerson poll finding that 12.4% of Democrats said “the actions of the killer of the United Healthcare CEO” were “completely acceptable,” and 7.5% said they were “somewhat acceptable.”
About the case
The source article states that Thompson was a father of two and that Mangione admitted to the killing. Those details were not independently verified here.
Editor’s note: This report relies solely on the source article’s attributions to Rolling Stone, Burr’s podcast, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and the cited CloudResearch and Emerson polls. Human approval is required.
