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.
