Ben Shapiro called Bill Burr “not just woke, but the wokest of the woke” on his February 18, 2025 show, responding to Burr’s comments about billionaires and economic hardship. Months later, in an interview with Vulture’s Good Ones, Burr challenged Shapiro’s use of the word and accused him of seeking divisive online content. The first is Shapiro’s political judgment; the second is Burr’s allegation about motive, not an independently established fact.
Why Ben Shapiro called Bill Burr “woke”
On the February 18, 2025 episode of The Ben Shapiro Show, Shapiro was responding to Burr’s remarks about billionaires, wages, rent and economic hardship. Shapiro objected to Burr’s framing and characterized his comments on race and economics as “woke.” The available transcript records Shapiro saying: “And then he decided that he was going to go not just woke, but the wokest of the woke, on everything from race to economics.” He also called Burr an “economic idiot”—Shapiro’s insult and opinion, not a neutral assessment of Burr’s argument. The episode transcript is a transcript archive, rather than the official episode recording.
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What happened next
A Young Turks clip page dated February 28, 2025 presents a segment as Burr’s response to Shapiro calling him “woke.” That establishes the clip page’s date and framing; the video itself was not playable in the retrieved page, so the page alone does not verify the response’s precise wording. The Young Turks’ channel is the outlet associated with the clip.
Burr’s later, more fully reported comments came in an interview with Jesse David Fox for Vulture’s Good Ones podcast. Mediaite reported on the interview on July 31, 2025; Rolling Stone and The Independent published reports on August 2. In the interview, Burr said of Shapiro, “He doesn’t even know what that word means.” He also said Shapiro came onto his show to have something to discuss online and accused him of making money by dividing the country. Those claims about Shapiro’s understanding and motive are Burr’s views; the reporting does not independently establish them.
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What each man said—and what it establishes
| Speaker and setting | Claim | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| Ben Shapiro, February 18, 2025, on The Ben Shapiro Show | Burr had become “not just woke, but the wokest of the woke” on race and economics. | Shapiro’s characterization, made while criticizing Burr’s economic comments; it does not settle what “woke” means. |
| Bill Burr, later interview for Vulture’s Good Ones | “He doesn’t even know what that word means.” | Burr’s criticism of Shapiro’s use of the label. |
| Bill Burr, later interview for Vulture’s Good Ones | Shapiro used the appearance to generate divisive material and make money. | Burr’s allegation about motive, not a verified account of Shapiro’s intent. |
Shapiro later defended his use of “wokeness” and, according to The Independent, described Burr as believing America is deeply racist. That is Shapiro’s account of Burr’s position, not proof that the two men agree on the term’s meaning.
Keep the separate disputes separate
The February “woke” criticism was not the start of the public friction. In December 2024, after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was killed, Burr made remarks about CEOs. Mediaite reports that Shapiro described Burr’s sentiment in that episode as morally sick. That earlier disagreement concerned Burr’s remarks following Thompson’s killing; it should not be conflated with Shapiro’s later criticism of Burr’s comments on economics and race.
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What the exchange does—and does not—show
The record supports a clear sequence: Shapiro criticized Burr’s comments about economic conditions in February; a dated TYT page later framed a clip as Burr’s response; and Burr challenged Shapiro’s use of “woke” in the Vulture interview. It does not provide an agreed definition of “woke,” adjudicate either man’s political claims, or independently confirm Burr’s account of why Shapiro appeared on his show. The disagreement is best understood as a clash of characterizations and accusations, not a settled finding about either person’s motives.
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