Salesforce CEO Mark Benioff’s recent comments embracing the Trump administration and advocating for the deployment of federal troops to San Francisco continue to reverberate across the tech and political world.
On the same day that Ron Conway, known as the “Godfather of Silicon Valley,” excoriated Benioff for his political turn and resigned from the board of the Salesforce Foundation — comedians Kumail Nanjiani and Ilana Glazer also canceled their performances at Dreamforce, the three-day conference that has drawn roughly 45,000 visitors to San Francisco this week.
The A-list comics were scheduled to close out Salesforce’s signature convention Thursday with an hour-long standup set at the Moscone Center. Last year, John Mulaney used his set to poke fun at San Francisco, AI, and tech culture.
“Due to unforeseen circumstances, Kumail Nanjiani and Ilana Glazer are no longer able to perform,” the company said. A spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment when asked to elaborate why.
While neither performer has publicly criticized Benioff or Salesforce, they have both been outspoken about unfair labor practices in the entertainment industry, anti-immigration rhetoric, and the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Origin Public Relations, which represents both Nanjiani and Glazer, did not respond to requests for comment. Salesforce replaced the two headliners with comedian David Spade.
Glazer, who is of Jewish descent and best known for co-creating the Comedy Central series Broad City, has used her platform to speak out against Israel’s occupation of Gaza.
She has also criticized the Republican Party and conservative media (opens in new tab) for “stumping for hate.” Recently, she has been campaigning for New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.
In his bombshell New York Times interview, Benioff said he is supportive of President Donald Trump’s policies and that he wasn’t closely following (opens in new tab) the administration’s hardline, often violent stance against immigration.
Nanjiani, who is Pakistani and starred in the hit HBO series Silicon Valley, has been less overt with his political views. But the actor has championed immigrant stories and spoken out against xenophobic views (opens in new tab).
Other celebrities honored their Dreamforce speaking commitments. Some touched on the political climate, while others did not. For their part, Matthew McConaughey and Maria Shriver used the conference on Wednesday to hawk their memoirs.
Actress America Ferrera, on the other hand, had some more poignant remarks on Thursday when she was asked about the state of diversity, equity and inclusion in the corporate world.
“If our leaders are willing to stand up to bullying, that will embolden others to follow them,” Ferrara said. “Conversely, if they grow timid and cowardly to intimidation, that also goes downstream.”
“We need courage at this time,” she added. “We need our leaders to model that for us…We don’t want to live in a society where voices grow softer and dreams grow dimmer.”