Rick Rubin backs Polymarket in World Cup ad

Rick Rubin, the wild-haired, often-barefoot oracle behind Def Jam Recordings and one of the best-known music producers of the last 40 years, is shilling Polymarket during the World Cup. An ad for the gambling platform that has played repeatedly during this summer’s World Cup features Rubin sitting in lotus pose as the introduction of Kanye West’s “Runaway” plays. The producer narrates, “If you could ask one question, what would you ask?” (West has recently been attempting to renege on his far-right ideologies in order to make bank on a new worldwide tour; his opinions on gambling markets remain unclear.) The ad, which attempts to posit Polymarket as an instrument of knowledge-gathering, has earned its share of scorn online—though the average Ye fan probably has nothing against Polymarket, the contingent that actually cares about Rick Rubin is less likely to be big on predatory gambling you can do on your phone.

Polymarket has been wrought with insider-trading scandals and deceptive marketing accusations in recent months, hiccups that haven’t stopped them from plastering their name all over the world’s biggest sporting event. Rubin, for his part, is less of a musical purist than might be expected of someone of his ilk. He’s called AI “punk rock,” advocating for vibe coding to be viewed through 3,000-year-old Taoist philosophies for “holistic” integration into creative acts. Rubin hasn’t revealed whether he’s applying that same technique in his own work, but he remains prolific: he worked with the Strokes on their forthcoming album Reality Awaits and recorded an eight-part docuseries on JAY-Z, which is set to be released in the fall. Maybe, if we’re lucky, Jay will turn to the camera in the middle of the show and pledge his allegiance to Kalshi.

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