Despite being billed as an event that would see “crypto’s provocateur” placed “in the hot seat” and under the spotlight, Token2049’s roast of Justin Sun was instead 10 minutes of jokes about his height, references to his touchy legal team, and his $6.2 million banana.
The roast was uploaded to YouTube by an audience member but wasn’t shared online by Sun, his team, or any Token2049 affiliate.
Actor and comedian T.J. Miller kicked off the event by poking fun at Sun’s history of scheduling conflicts and comparing his look to an AI image generator’s rendition of a “crypto bro.”
Things got slightly edgier when he touched on Sun’s unwillingness to give away a Tesla as part of a $20 million giveaway that he was accused of rigging.
“Before this roast, I did not know who you were. No, I really didn’t. But I googled Justin Sun Tes… Sorry, electric cars. Legal told me not to say that,” the comedian joked.
He later followed up with another jibe at Sun’s legal team, saying, “This is the only thing legal let me do in this. You can read all about how he negotiated a banana for $6.2 million in his new book, The Art of the Peel.”
He continued, “You understand what I’m saying? The Art of the Peel like Art of the Deal. Legal would only let me talk about Donald Trump like that. That’s it.”
Sun has been criticized for the multi-million dollar financial investments he’s made in Trump’s World Liberty Financial and the impact it might have had on the criminal proceedings against him in the US.
Not every joke at the Justin Sun roast landed
Most of the jokes were received well enough, however, a good few also fell flat. One particularly badly received pun asked, “How much money does it cost for him to be punctual?”
Another bomb claimed that his oft-referenced scheduling conflicts arose from him trying to get tickets to Shen Yun, the traditional dancing company.
“I thought this Shen Yun shit was going to kill in Singapore,” he said.
Miller also joked about just how rich Sun is, how he’s too short to reach a “piggy bank for your integrity” on the top shelf, and how he must know what it’s like to be a faker since he’s been in bed with a woman pretending to orgasm.
“I don’t even think Justin Sun is Chinese. He’s fake rich, hangs out on Wall Street, pays too much for organic fruit, he steals other people’s ideas, he must be American,” he joked.
Ultimately, the so-called roast was a pretty tame affair, with Miller even encouraging and supporting Sun in between jibes. If there’s even a kernel of truth in Miller’s comments about the touchiness of Sun’s legal team, this may well explain it.