Spotify podcaster Joe Rogan mocked an actor from “The Office” for criticizing country musician Oliver Anthony’s viral song during a Wednesday interview with the singer.
“The Office” actor Rainn Wilson, known for his role as Dwight Schrute, said Anthony’s song, “Rich Men North of Richmond,” should have been written about CEOs who make “400 times their average workers salary” and pay little to nothing in taxes.
“If I were writing a song about ‘rich men north of richmond’ I wouldnt talk about obese people on welfare, I’d sing about CEOs who make 400 times their average workers salary (up from 50 times 30 years ago) & corps that pay zero taxes & offshore tax shelters for billionaires,” Wilson wrote in an Aug. 20 tweet.
If I were writing a song about “rich men north of richmond” I wouldnt talk about obese people on welfare, I’d sing about CEOs who make 400 times their average workers salary (up from 50 times 30 years ago) & corps that pay zero taxes & offshore tax shelters for billionaires.
— RainnWilson (@rainnwilson) August 20, 2023
“There is nothing funnier than millionaires talking shit about billionaires,” Rogan said in the episode published Wednesday. “There’s nothing funnier about millionaires pretending that these billionaires are out of touch. Take Dwight from ‘The Office’ down to West Virginia, take him through those coal mining countries, take him through those places in Appalachia where people have extreme poverty and pills have ravished those areas.”
“And the sad thing is it’s everywhere now,” Anthony added.
The singer said poverty is a major issue in rural and urban areas throughout the nation, making the song resonate with so many Americans. (RELATED: HART: ‘Rich Men North Of Richmond’—America’s Cry For Help Against Washington Permanent Elite)
“I knew I needed to do this, like I knew I needed to … I procrastinated with music a lot for a long time. I mean, I’m 31. I’ve been playing guitar and playing music on and off since I was a kid,” Anthony said.
The song soared to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, topping pop star Taylor Swift and famous country music stars Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs. Anthony previously said the lyrics describe the struggles of working-class people and the people in the federal government making the lower and working class “needy and dependent.”
The lyrics to the song’s chorus include: “Livin’ in the new world / With an old soul / These rich men north of Richmond / Lord knows they all just wanna have total control / Wanna know what you think, wanna know what you do / And they don’t think you know, but I know that you do / ‘Cause your dollar ain’t shit and it’s taxed to no end / ‘Cause of rich men north of Richmond.”
The first 2024 Republican primary debate opened with the song where eight of the candidates addressed the meaning.