'I can't do this': Dana White admits walkout from Howie Mandel podcast was staged



UFC President Dana White revealed that a viral moment when he walked off the set of a podcast was staged and that it was discussed with the host beforehand.

White appeared on legendary comedian Howie Mandel's podcast in February 2024, and after Mandel praised the fight promoter, White declared he was done with podcasts and walked out of frame after just 30 seconds.

"Thank you for all the kind words; I appreciate it," White said. "I am so f***ing tired of doing podcasts. I am literally done with them. I am not doing any more podcasts," he added before walking off.

However, months later, White explained that events occurred during a promotional appearance that caused him to break his promise to Mandel and reveal that the walkout was staged.

The UFC president said that after he appeared on "The Sage Steele Show" — which had a viral moment of its own — he was approached by Mandel.

'Whoa, whoa, whoa, time out, I can't do this. Howie Mandel's the greatest f***ing dude ever. Sorry, Howie.'

"She was signed to Bill Maher's podcast company, and they're all done there in Howie Mandel's studio," White told comedians Andrew Schulz and Akaash Singh on the "Flagrant" podcast.

"So we get done with the podcast and Howie Mandel walks in and he's like, '100 podcasts a week happen here. I've never watched any of them. I watched the whole podcast. Love who you are, what you stand for' and all this stuff. And we hit it off, started talking. Great dude," White continued.

"He's like, 'Let me show you around the studio.' He's involved in all kinds of s***," White said of Mandel. "He owns social media companies and all this other stuff. Howie Mandel owns a lot of s*** that people don't realize. Smart guy, great guy. So we're walking through and stuff and he goes, 'Would you do me a favor?' And I said, 'Yeah, what's up?' He's like, 'Would you come in and get up and walk off my podcast?' I go, 'I would be f***ing honored to walk off your podcast because I'm so f***ing sick of doing podcasts, it's not even funny.'"

White added that the timing worked out perfectly because he was indeed sick of doing podcasts.

"So we go in there and do it, right? He's like, 'Take this to the grave.' I said, 'Done, I'll take it to the grave.'"

Unfortunately, White was not able to keep the secret, but only because of his good nature. While doing a promotional tour with pranksters and entrepreneurs the Nelk Boys, White said a huge crowd of youngsters started chanting "f**k Howie Mandel!" over and over again. White said he couldn't let the fans go on thinking poorly of Mandel.

"I go, 'Whoa, whoa, whoa, time out, I can't do this,'" White recalled. "Howie Mandel's the greatest f***ing dude ever. Sorry, Howie. It's just when I go out and people just start f***ing s***ting on the guy. And I'm sure he could give a flying f*** — I couldn't do it. So Howie Mandel's f***ing awesome."

Although White broke that promise, he soon made another before the end of the "Flagrant" podcast. White said that after appearing on the Tom Brady roast that saw him perform jokes, he promised he would never do stand-up comedy again.

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'They’re not damaged, they’re complaining': Howie Mandel says the days of 'woke' are numbered

'They’re not damaged, they’re complaining': Howie Mandel says the days of 'woke' are numbered



Comedian and TV host Howie Mandel praised comedians who are pure to their artform and said that because of comedians who have refused to censor themselves, the pendulum is swinging away from woke audiences.

Mandel appeared on the "Stand-Up World Podcast" and started by reminiscing about the days when comedy fans could go to a club and see comedians who "seem to be breaking the rules."

Comedians were "talking about things you didn't hear people talk about publicly," unlike what you might see on the "Tonight Show" or any other mainstream comedy format.

The former "Deal or No Deal" host then described when he thought audiences started taking offense with politically correct points of view.

"A couple of years ago political awareness kind of took over, even before this whatever people call 'woke,' it started in colleges you know? A lot of my friends who used to play colleges. You'd think you'd play to colleges because that would be the young, open-minded people where you could go so far. They were the first people to really shut down, but I think the pendulum swung really far into the woke," Mandel explained.

However, Mandel said the pendulum swung too far into "woke" and cited a number of comedians who he thinks have brought true comedy back.

"I feel like with people like Shane Gillis and Bert Kreischer and Ari Shaffir and all these Austin comics and all these new guys — Mark Normand — and all these people, these people who don't give a s**t about that and believe in the purity of what it is."

"[They] are bringing the pendulum back and they're selling bigger numbers than anybody that is trying to conform to whatever you believe you need to conform to," he claimed.

Comedian Kreischer starring in a 2023 movie about his life, Shaffir's successful comedy special on YouTube, and Gillis' monstrous comeback that included a "Saturday Night Live" appearance and a Bud Light sponsorship are just some of the accolades these comedians have acquired.


Mandel went on to describe the hypocrisy of viewers getting offended by comedy, as "humor comes out of darkness."

"That’s why the tragedy and comedy masks are so close together," Mandel continued. "If you’re a little kid and you go to the circus you’re laughing at a clown falling down. You’re laughing at the misfortune of somebody you don’t know."

"If something bad doesn’t happen, it’s not funny. If something embarrassing doesn’t happen, it’s not funny. If something awkward doesn’t happen, it’s not funny," he explained.

Touching on cancel culture, Mandel described how easy it is to simply not listen to a comedian if you find what they say to be offensive.

"You don’t have to laugh at the joke. You don’t have to like the joke. You don’t even have to get the joke."

He added that jokes have never actually harmed anyone, and those who have claimed to have suffered from comedy, have not.

"Who is damaged by this? Who has ever been damaged by comedy? Ever? Ever?! ... They’re not damaged, they’re complaining,” Mandel concluded.

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'They never said you won't get COVID!' Howie Mandel challenges RFK Jr. on vaccine efficacy

'They never said you won't get COVID!' Howie Mandel challenges RFK Jr. on vaccine efficacy



Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a lively exchange with television host and podcaster Howie Mandel surrounding claims in the media that were made about the efficacy of COVIID-19 vaccines. Mandel argued that the messaging was not as misleading as Kennedy was making it out to be.

On Mandel's "Howie Mandel Does Stuff" podcast, Kennedy attempted explained that the claims that were made after clinical COVID-19 vaccine trials were not transparent.

Mandel acknowledged that there was an at-risk group of obese, ill, or older people who were more likely to need vaccination.

Kennedy described Pfizer's clinical trial.

"The clinical trial study, you had 22,000 people who took the vaccine and 22,000 people got the placebo, and what the result was after six months, they had to hand that data to FDA in order to get the emergency use authorization," Kennedy began. "That data showed that in the vaccine group there was one COVID death of 22,000 people over six months; in the unvaccinated group there were two COVID deaths of 22,000 people, so that allowed the company to tell the public the vaccine is 100% effective."

"That's a misnomer," Mandel quickly replied. "100% effective in as far as ... because I saw people on the news going 'well, I got the vaccine, I still got COVID.' They never said you won't get COVID; they just said that it'll kind of pull back the severity of it."

Kennedy then reiterated, "What they're saying, out of 22,000 people there was one COVID death among the vaccinated and there was two COVID deaths on the unvaccinated 22,000 people, and that allowed them to claim it's 100% effective."

"Effective for what? You can't use the word effective," Mandel exclaimed.

"You remember they kept saying it's 100% effective?" Kennedy asked.

"No, they just said it will negate the severity. ... The word 'effective' didn't say you won't get [it], I never heard 'you won't get COVID,'" Mandel added.

"It's not 100% effective, okay, because if that's the metric, what they really should have been telling us is that to prevent one COVID death, they need to give 22,000 vaccines."

\xf0\x9f\x94\xa5 Howie Mandel Tries to Rewrite History on the COVID Vaccine & Immediately Gets Schooled by RFK Jr.\n\nHOWIE: "They never said you won't get COVID"\n\nRFK JR: "I saw a tape yesterday of them all saying it...Can I play it for you?"\n\nHOWIE: "Well, wait wait wait...It doesn't matter\xe2\x80\xa6
— (@)

Mandel later summarized his position by explaining that many of the decisions made by the establishment were rushed due to panic.

"I believe a lot of mistakes were made, but we were panicked, and you know, we made decisions based on the amount of information that we had at the moment," he said, adding that guidance evolved as more information came to fruition.

The TV-panel judge also plainly asked Kennedy if he was "anti-vaccine," to which the politician replied, "If you show me a vaccine that was safe and effective, that did what it was supposed to do, I would have no problem with it."


Mandel, a longtime comedian, has continually stepped out of his typical element in recent months to support free speech and open commentary.

In December 2023 Mandel appeared on the popular comedy podcast "Kill Tony" and praised the show for its free speech mentality.

"There's no such thing as political correctness; it's comedy! And now I live in L.A. and it's it's tough. I can't say what I want to say," he explained. "Only you give people a platform to do it right. It's funny, it's raw, [the audience isn't] recording it, you can say anything on this show!" he yelled.

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If Bill Maher’s Message Upsets You, Watch This

If Bill Maher’s Message Upsets You, Watch This