Magician Penn Jillette: ‘I really enjoyed working with Trump… Now I’m on his hate list’
Penn Jillette says he’s on Donald Trump’s enemies list because the president-elect feels a sense of “betrayal” towards him – and more specifically because of a risqué joke about his hair.
The 69-year-old magician, who’s one-half of the double act Penn & Teller, tells Sky News: “I am reported in the New York Times on his hate list, and he’s promised retribution to everybody on that list.”
He’s referring to “an enemies list of people [Mr Trump] intends to prosecute,” which vice president Kamala Harris has previously warned of.
While Jillette admits he doesn’t know all the reasons he’s reportedly on the list, he thinks a deciding factor may have been a joke he describes as “the best thing I’ve ever said in my life”.
When asked what he thought of Mr Trump by a journalist, Jillette says he responded: “He has hair that looks like cotton candy made of piss”.
And he’s not at all repentant about his past comment, adding: “It’s exactly what it is. Yeah, he didn’t like that one bit.”
Rock stars of magic, Penn & Teller found fame in the mid-1980s, toured with critically acclaimed shows throughout the 1990s and saw TV success on both sides of the pond.
Appearing on shows including Friends, The Simpsons, Sabrina The Teenage Witch and even popping up in a Katy Perry music video, Jillette’s fame would go on to win him a place alongside Mr Trump on US The Celebrity Apprentice in 2012, returning for an All-Stars season the following year.
It was a role Jillette says he enjoyed – with caveats.
Penn & Teller in 1998. Pic: AP
‘Showbiz is very different from politics’
“I really liked working with Trump in that environment. The fact that I liked working with him in the show business environment is very different from him in the political context.
“Trump did not understand that he thought that it was some sort of betrayal.”
Not one to mince his words, he describes the man who is set to become America’s leader for a second time in January as “incompetent”, “stupid”, and lacking in “processing power”.
But speaking about the on-set dynamic, he does have regrets about his own behaviour: “He was a laughingstock. We all had to prop him up. And in retrospect, that’s really awful.
“If I had my time back, I would have never once called him Mr Trump, which I did. I thought I was doing it kind of snarkily, but it didn’t read that way on camera.”
Penn & Teller in 2010. Pic: AP
‘No affection’ for Teller
In the interest of balance, Mr Trump has been equally vocal in his dislike of Penn, calling him among other things “sad”, a “goofball atheist” and a “boring guy” according to a 2019 New York Times list of people, places and things Mr Trump has insulted on Twitter.
And Mr Trump shouldn’t feel too aggrieved that Jillette isn’t a fan – it turns out the magician wouldn’t vote for Teller to be president either.
Despite performing over 8,000 live shows – more than the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Elvis and The Clash put together – and trusting Teller with his life, he admits: “If he ran for president, I wouldn’t support him… it’s a different skill set.”
But he adds: “He’d be a million times better than Trump.”
Penn & Teller in 2011. Pic: AP
A chalk and cheese mix, with a 6’7″ Jillette towering over a 5’9″ Teller, and with Jillette famously doing all the talking, he says he has “no affection” whatsoever for his comedy partner of nearly 50 years.
He explains: “Teller and I never felt any affection for one another whatsoever. It was totally intellectual. We felt we could do better stuff together than separately. So, our relationship was that of two guys who own a dry cleaner.”
Conceding that after all these years his daughter makes him refer to Teller as his BFF, he concedes: “There is a friendship that’s very, very deep. However, we don’t hang out.”
Backstage in 2004. Pic: AP
Ditched the gun and flag tricks
An atheist, an unlikely vegan and a peacenik, the former libertarian (Jillette rejected the libertarian movement after he was to lead a rally against masks, a move that saw him “totally, totally out”) says their act has been honed down over the years.
Their famous bullet catch trick is gone, partly Jillette says because “when people see a gun, especially in the hands of an American, the person holding that gun is expected to be making a statement about gun violence”.
And he says: “I don’t have a succinct statement to make about gun violence, except I’m against it.”
Their disappearing flag trick – once performed on an episode of The West Wing – has also been ditched.
Now “a symbol of the right-wing” he says his country’s flag has now been hijacked as “a symbol of part of the country”, a fact he says is “bothersome”.
Penn & Teller chatting to the king at the Royal Variety Performance. Pic: Reuters
‘I’ve talked to the cat for a while’
As for us Brits, Jillette says he “likes England very much” and is on first-name terms with “the potentate formerly known as Prince” – or King Charles as he’s more commonly known.
Past royal gigs mean he’s laid back about entertaining the monarch at this year’s Royal Variety Performance, explaining: “I’ve talked to the cat for a while. So, it’s kind of like a guy I know coming to the show.”
A controversial career filled with critical acclaim, royal approval and magical disapproval (they were famously barred from the Magic Circle for explaining their tricks to the audience) has kept Penn & Teller in the spotlight for over four decades.
Receiving their Hollywood Walk Of Fame star in 2013. Pic: Reuters
And with their record-breaking act at The Rio Hotel and Casino – once described by Mr Trump as “the worst show in Las Vegas” – scheduled up to 2026, they’ve no plans of slowing down.
Jillette says they will perform “until death”, adding: “We will die in office.”
As he ponders the possibility, his mind returns to his position on Mr Trump’s hate list, linking the two with a wry smile.
He concludes: “When I see King Charles, I may request asylum. You may be seeing a lot of me over in England.”
Penn & Teller come to the West End next year, performing at The London Palladium from Saturday 13 September to Wednesday 24 September.
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A Banksy artwork, where a glass police box looks like a tank of piranhas, has been moved into protective storage ahead of its display at the London Museum’s new location.
The artwork made headlines last summer when it featured as part of the street artist’s animal-themed collection in the capital, which concluded with a gorilla appearing to lift up a shutter on the entrance to London Zoo.
The piranhas piece is now in the care of the London Museum and will be kept in secure storage before it becomes accessible to the public as part of a permanent display at the museum’s Smithfield location, which is opening in 2026.
The artwork is moved from London’s Guildhall. Pic: PA
The police box had stood in Ludgate Hill since the 1990s before it was painted to resemble a fish tank.
The box was temporarily relocated by the City Of London Corporation to Guildhall Yard, where thousands of visitors viewed it from behind safety barriers, after Banksy confirmed he was responsible for the artwork.
It was later moved to Guildhall’s South Ambulatory.
Banksy’s London animals collection was made up of nine works including a rhino seemingly mounting a silver Nissan Micra, two elephant silhouettes with their trunks stretched out towards each other, and three monkeys that appeared as though they were swinging on a bridge.
Some of the works, which also included a howling wolf on a satellite dish, were removed, covered up or vandalised, after being painted across the city from 5 to 13 August 2024.
Chris Hayward, policy chairman of the City of London Corporation, said: “Banksy stopped Londoners in their tracks when this piece appeared in the Square Mile – and now, we’re making it available to millions.
“By securing it for London Museum, we’re not only protecting a unique slice of the City’s story, but also adding an artwork that will become one of the museum’s star attractions.”
The artwork after it first emerged. Pic: PA
Brendan Barns, chairman of the City of London Corporation’s culture, heritage, and libraries committee, said: “Banksy’s Piranhas are already part of City legend – and soon, they’ll be part of London’s story, too.
“Moving this piece into the care of London Museum guarantees that millions of people will be able to enjoy it, alongside an extraordinary collection that celebrates the capital’s creativity and diversity.”
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Glyn Davies, head of curatorial at London Museum, added: “With the arrival of Banksy’s Piranhas, our collection now spans from Roman graffiti to our first piece of contemporary street art.
“This work by one of the world’s most iconic artists now belongs to Londoners, and will keep making waves when it goes on show next year in the Museum’s new Smithfield home.”
London Museum’s London Wall site opened in 1976 and closed in December 2022 in preparation for the move to Smithfield.
London Museum Docklands remains open.
Taylor Swift has announced she is getting married to her NFL star boyfriend, Travis Kelce.
The pop star and Kansas City Chiefs tight end shared the news in a joint post on Instagram, with the caption: “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married.”
The announcement was liked more than 1.7 million times just over 30 minutes after it was posted.
Pic: Instagram / @taylorswift
Swift and Kelce started their relationship in 2023, after the three-time Super Bowl winner said on his podcast New Heights that he tried and failed to meet the singer at her Eras Tour concert in Kansas City.
Rumours grew that the couple were dating after Swift was spotted at a number of Chiefs games. On her seventh time in the stands, she brought her father, Scott Kingsley Swift, along.
Kelce told the Wall Street Journal in November 2023: “There were definitely people she knew that knew who I was, in her corner [who said]: ‘Yo! Did you know he was coming [to the Eras Tour]?’
“I had somebody playing Cupid… She told me exactly what was going on and how I got lucky enough to get her to reach out.”
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From January: Taylor cheers on Travis after Chiefs win
Earlier this month, Swift appeared on Kelce’s podcast, New Heights, and announced her 12th album, titled The Life Of A Showgirl.
Speaking to Kelce and his brother Jason, Swift said it was inspired by the Eras Tour – and also talked about his attempt at meeting her two years ago.
While she said his plan to give her his number on a friendship bracelet was a “wild, romantic gesture,” she joked he “didn’t do any proper logistical planning” and thought he would be allowed backstage.
“Because he knows the elevator lady, he thought he could talk to her about just getting down to my dressing room,” she added. “That’s how it works in 1973.”
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The new album, which will be released on 3 October, marks her first release since she took back control over her entire back catalogue from private equity firm Shamrock Capital.
Sky News culture and entertainment reporter Gemma Peplow said after her globe-trotting tour and a swathe of re-releases over recent years, the new album cemented Swift’s reputation “as the hardest-working star in pop”.
Despite rumours he would retire after losing this year’s Super Bowl, Kelce will play for the Kansas City Chiefs again this season.
He told GQ magazine his on-field performances “slipped a little bit” as he started acting, and added: “I’m just saying that my work ethic is such that I have so much pride in how I do things that I never want the product to tail off, and I feel like these past two years haven’t been to my standard.”
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