Joan Baez Turns Serious On John Mulaney, Decrying “Incompetent Billionaires” Running The Country​on March 13, 2025 at 3:04 pm

Singer-songwriter Joan Baez still has the fierce sense of outrage that’s long fueled her career, and she gave voice to it, however briefly, last night on Netflix’s Everybody’s Live With John Mulaney.

While Mulaney’s talk show is built for humor, Baez prefaced her appearance on the guest couch with a sort of disclaimer. “You said I could say anything I want out here,” Baez said to an agreeable Mulaney. “We’re all here to be silly and have fun, and as long as we recognize the fact that our democracy is going up in flames and we’re being run by a bunch of really incompetent billionaires. That being said, ask anything you want…”

While Baez didn’t identify the “incompetent billionaires,” the statement wasn’t lost on anybody. In fact, she later mentioned that she once owned – and hated – a Tesla. “I hated that thing,” Baez said of the Musk-made electric car, “but I thought I was supposed to like it. So I drove off in it. Within 45 minutes I had smashed it into an oak tree on my property. I was thinking, ‘That’s a sign.’”