Boston Strong Concert: Dane Cook, Classy As Always, Refuses to Stream His Set At Charity Concert

Culture

Only Dane Cook could turn a charity performance for the Boston Strong concert into a catastrophe.

For those who haven’t heard, Boston Strong was a music and comedy benefit concert for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings. The lineup included Aerosmith, New Kids on the Block, and James Taylor and Carole King, as well as several comedy acts. The sold-out, six-hour concert was also livestreamed on multiple audio and video feeds for those who could not attend in person, including not just average Americans but some Boston Marathon bombing victims as well.

Imagine people’s surprise, then, when the feed cut out just as Cook took the stage to perform his comedy routine. Amid speculation as to what happened, Cook tweeted: “Hey everyone sorry my set was not a part of the live stream or televised! I didn't want any of the new material to hit the airwaves yet!”

Wait, so you’re not livestreaming your routine at a charity concert because you’re worried about losing money? Classy as always, Cook.

I could continue to comment on the tastelessness of it all, but then again, I have Twitter to do that for me. Be prepared for profanity.

And let’s be honest, with Cook consistently rated as one of the worst comedians in the U.S., was livestreaming it really that much of a threat to him? Nobody is stealing his material, nor were his absolute die-hard fans going to pass on a chance to see him live anyway. And that’s not to mention that much bigger names than him were completely fine with airing their pieces for the world.

Even if you’re really that paranoid about losing content, then why not just do an old routine? Cook’s been in the business for many years now, so it can’t possibly have been that difficult to dig something up.

Instead, after volunteering his time and efforts at what should have been an amazing and inspiring act of charity, Cook just ended up with a PR nightmare on his hands.

To put it Twitter format, that was #bostonweak.