Who Is David Geffen: The Man Behind Family Guy's Most Mysterious Joke
"Family Guy" has no qualms over poking fun at influential figures. However, while viewers can likely understand jokes directed at politicians and pop stars, there was one reference mentioned in Season 21's "Old West" that may have gone over some people's heads.
Peter Griffin talks about how they missed up like David Geffen. The scene then cuts away to a normal-looking picture of Geffen, with Joe wondering what that was about. Peter then says how Geffen paid the showrunners $10 million not to make fun of him. This joke returns at the end of the episode, where Peter encourages viewers to tune in next week to "David Geffen's Family Guy."
But why is David Geffen on "Family Guy?" And who is he? Basically, he's extremely wealthy. He's worked in the entertainment industry for years, founding Asylum Records in 1971, which ended up signing The Eagles and Bob Dylan. He's also the founder of Geffen Records as well as DreamWorks, and he has a reported net worth of $10 billion. The "Family Guy" joke essentially exists to point out just how wealthy Geffen is, to the point where he could buy his way out of any roasting. And fans who know who Geffen is thought the meta-joke was brilliant.
Some fans appreciated the David Geffen jokes
It's not necessary to know David Geffen's entire life story to understand the "Family Guy" joke. He's just an obscenely wealthy man, and the show's poking fun at how people can buy their way into anything when they get that rich. There were certainly plenty of confused reactions on social media from people who simply didn't know who Geffen was, but those who did were in for a treat.
Shortly after the episode aired, plenty of people took to Twitter to make it clear they understood the reference, and they found it hilarious. One such person was Twitter user @MrAlvinSane: "David Geffen burn was TOO SAVAGE. Dude is rich and powerful enough to buy his way out of a lot of things, including an FG roasting apparently." After Peter's conversation with Joe, the episode ends with the Griffin family in the newly christened "David Geffen Living Room," which was just too much for @ShoryukenF to bear: "The David Geffen Living Room?! lol."
There's no shortage of savage celebrity burns on "Family Guy" over the years. The show even makes fun of its own, with the sitcom berating Seth Green (who voices Chris) during the "Star Wars" special episodes and how unfunny "Robot Chicken" is. David Geffen got out relatively unscathed with his "Family Guy" reference, and now, more people know who the multibillionaire is.