Rob Dyrdek Made a Truly Ridiculous Amount of Money for Hosting Now-Canceled ‘Ridiculousness’
It’s the end of an era. MTV has canceled Ridiculousness after 46 seasons and 14 years on the air.
The clip show hosted by former pro skateboarder Rob Drydek has been a regular feature of MTV’s lineup since 2011, often airing for hours at a time in continuous programming blocks. New, already-produced episodes will continue to air through 2026, according to Deadline.
Why was ‘Ridiculousness’ canceled?
MTV hasn’t commented on the cancellation of Ridiculousness. But the news comes not long after MTV’s parent Paramount merged with Skydance. That has led to significant layoffs across the new company.
Moving forward, the company wants to “reimagine” the network, focusing on “a more curated slate featuring fresh formats, different creative voices and refreshed programming,” per Deadline.
Ridiculousness isn’t the only MTV show to get the ax in recent weeks. In September, the network canceled Catfish after 12 years and nine seasons on the air.
‘Ridiculousness’ host Rob Dyrdek earned $32 million a year
Cost-cutting is clearly on the agenda at Paramount-Skydance. And a recent report reveals that Ridiculousness is costing MTV a bundle.
Dyrdek earns at least $32.5 million per year for his work on Ridiculousness, which typically produces 336 episodes annually, according to court documents reviewed by Bloomberg. (Ridiculousness producer Superjacket Productions filed for bankruptcy in September.) If the show had been picked up for more seasons, Dyrdek’s pay could have jumped to more than $45 million.
Dyrdek’s Ridiculousness salary includes $61,000 on-camera fee for each episode, plus a $21,000 per-episode executive producer fee and bonuses. The show’s production companies also have “key man” life insurance policies on Dyrdek worth $200 million.
MTV personality is also a successful entrepreneur
Casual TV viewers might think that Dyrdek is just an MTV personality. But that gig is just one of his many ventures. He’s also an entrepreneur who has invested in numerous companies and brands. He talked about his finances and his work on Ridiculousness in a 2022 interview with Men’s Health. Dyrdek explained that he was focused on optimizing all aspects of his life, and that such efficiency allowed him to continue filming the show.
“I’m only still doing the show because I was able to automate and optimize it to where it went from taking me four or five months to shoot 30 or 40 episodes all the way down to only taking five hours a day, 42 days a year to shoot 252 episodes of television,” he explained. “If I hadn’t got it so highly optimized and effortless, it would’ve been too draining on me.”
Despite his success, Dyrdek said he had no plans to every stop working.
“If you build your life the right way, retirement’s not even a thing … I designed a balanced life and then got better and better at living balanced,” he said. “I’m in this sort of perpetual state of evolution where I’m slowly evolving into my limitless potential. And so for me, I can’t even imagine not continuing to grow and evolve like this for the rest of my life.”
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