Stephen Colbert - worth $75m - says he doesn't mind high gas prices

Stephen Colbert, who’s worth $75m, admitted that he doesn’t mind paying high gas prices - and people on social media are rolling their eyes.

In a clip shared to Twitter, the late-night host started off his monologue to speak on the US and European allies looking to ban imports of Russian oil amid the invasion of Ukraine.

“Russia has been hit with a series of crippling sanctions … take that Putin! We’re not going to buy our gas from a war criminal, we’re going to buy it from the good guys - Saudi Arabia,” Colbert said.

“Today, the average gas price in America hit an all-time record high of over $4 per gallon. That stings, but a clean conscience is worth a buck or two. I’m willing to pay $4 a gallon. Hell, I’ll pay $15 a gallon cause I drive a Tesla,” he continued.

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But while his message was well-intentioned, a very, very rich guy brushing off the cost of essentials struck some as tone-deaf.

“'I don't mind paying $15 a gallon, cause I drive a Tesla' is a joke, until you realize that it really defines the disconnect between the mentality of celebrities and the people who have to drive to work every day in a car that costs less than $50k,” someone wrote.

“Nice of rich people to mock the poor like this @StephenAtHome - must be so nice not to have the same concerns as regular people,” another added.

A third made the assumption that Colbert potentially has “an assistant” shop for him and wrote: “Doesn't he realize it's not just the cost of fuel? But the cost of everything? Delivery trucks need to fuel up too, and very few of those are electric. Of course, he doesn't. He has an assistant who does all his shopping for him.”

Check out those reactions below:

The soaring gas prices come after an increase in the price of crude oil, with the price of international benchmark Brent crude costing $128.99 a barrel on Tuesday. That is an increase of 4.6 per cent over the last month.

And in data collected from the US Energy Information Administration in 2020, Russia was marked in third place on the list of the largest producers of petroleum products in the world.

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