Comedian Tim Dillon appeared Friday as the “ghost” of slain UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Netflix’s “Torching 2024: A Roast of the Year” — less than a month after the executive was gunned down in Manhattan.
Dillon, 39, dressed similarly to a widely shared photo of Thompson in a navy blue sweater, light blue shirt with bloodstains, tan khakis and wrapped in chains as he took to the dimly lit circular stage at The Bellwether in Los Angeles.
The New York native wore creepy gray makeup on his face and was met with a mixture of nervous laughter and cheers.
Dillon quickly leaned forward without reservation and introduced himself as the late CEO to the audience, in front of a large sign that read “UnitedHellcare CEO.”
“I’m going to hell for this, you might as well laugh,” Dillon said.
He immediately addressed the elephant in the room and, like Thompson, said he has been in hell reading the ‘tweets’ that many people are ‘glad’ he is dead.
“Your reaction to my murder makes me sick… and not the kind of sick person who I would immediately deny because I don’t have the proper paperwork,” the comedian said, joking about UnitedHealthcare’s track record on refusing policy members.
Analysis of 2023 federal data shows UnitedHealthcare leads the way in in-network claim denials on Affordable Care Act exchanges, with nearly a third of claims being denied, according to Personal Finance. website ValuePinguin.”
Continuing his portrayal of Thompson, Dillon’s jokes about the healthcare company were met with some outright groans of shock, mixed with laughs due to his raunchy material.
“The truth is, without people like me, to be king over people like you, to help people like me, this country would fall apart and that’s on you,” the comic said.
He then targeted accused killer Luigi Mangione, who pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in a Manhattan courtroom on Monday.
“Look at yourself dancing in the street because that Tortellini Mozzarella guy surprised me like an unexpected medical bill and shot me in the back,” Dillon joked. “Apparently he had his own back problems. I’m sorry Luigi, but no one feels sorry for a skinny man with back problems. Claim denied!”
As the play came to a close, Dillon, like Thompson, had one final message for the audience: “Deny, defend, dissolve!” – a play on the phrase “Deny Defend Depose” that Mangione reportedly scrawled on his bullet casings.
The “Torching 2024: A Roast of the Year” was hosted by comedian Jeff Ross and featured actor John Stamos and fellow comics Mark Normand and Sam Morril.
Dillon teased his set days before it premiered on Netflix, telling fans, “I promise you this is as tacky as it looks.”
Mangione, 26, allegedly killed Thompson in broad daylight outside a downtown Manhattan hotel on December 4. He was arrested on December 9 at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
While awaiting extradition to New York, the alleged killer of the UnitedHealthcare CEO received more than 140 messages during his brief stint behind bars in Pennsylvania, including some from drooling groupies and adoring admirers.
Authorities said Mangione, an Ivy League graduate from a wealthy Baltimore family, planned the killing months in advance because of a complaint about the “parasitic” health insurance industry.
