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Chris Rock, Diplo escape rain-soaked Burning Man festival with help from fans

September 3, 2023 | | Print Article

Sounding every bit like the makings of a spoof comedy, the “Escape from Burning Man” included two celebrities hitching their way to safety on the back of a pickup truck.

Reported estimates suggested more than 70,000 people had found themselves under shelter-in-place guidance in northern Nevada at the site of the annual festival after heavy rains turned much of the area into an impassable mud pile. That didn’t stop an intrepid few from trudging their way from the Playa, including music producer and DJ Diplo and comedian Chris Rock.

The 44-year-old entertainer, whose real name is Thomas Wesley Pentz, took to social media Saturday to update his followers on where he and the 57-year-old professional funny man had wound up.

On X, Diplo posted, “just walked 5 miles in the mud out of burning man with chris rock and a fan picked us up.”

Though the distance varied, the DJ offered more details on Instagram where he wrote, “I legit walked the side of the road for hours with my thumb out cuz I have a show in DC tonight and didn’t want to let yall down. Also shoutout to this guy for making the smart purchase of a truck not knowing it was for this exact moment.”

Captions over the video explained, “A fan offered Chris Rock and I a ride out of Burning Man in the back of a pickup after walking 6 miles through the mud…” before he mused, “all Chris could think about was a f&cking cold brew.”

 

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A post shared by diplo (@diplo)

A later post on the performer’s social media story remarked, “no one was making it out of burning man they didn’t believe we would walk 6 miles in the mud… no one believed we would get to dc for the show tonight, but [God] did.”

As previously reported, heavy rains had bogged up the roads and further downpours had been predicted for overnight into Sunday. Event organizers had shared advice for mud-laden festival campers to conserve their resources while the risk for hypothermia and hygiene-related illnesses began to climb.

As one Los Angeles-based physician had told Insider, “If it rains again, which is going to prevent people from being able to use their vehicles for another three to four days, people are gonna get stranded there, and there’s gonna be a resource crunch. The port-a-potties are probably going to start overflowing, and that’s gonna mix with the mud and the rain, and it’s going to possibly spread infectious diseases.”

“As the days go on, and people realize that they’re not going to have enough water to do dishes with, there’s going to be a lot more sanitation issues and hygiene issues. And so I think people may start getting a little bit more desperate,” the physician added, “And we may start seeing people getting sick if they don’t find a way of getting out of there fast.”

Authorities had already opened an investigation into one death, but details from the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office were scant due to the active nature of the case. Buses were being provided at no charge to shuttle those who made the journey to the road to be taken to Reno. Sgt. Nathan J. Carmichael had noted, “I don’t know if they’re going to be able to come back or not. A lot of them are leaving their campers and saying they’ll come back in a couple days.”

While there were many fawning reactions to Diplo’s account, a consensus agreed that “Chris Rock and Diplo being stuck at Burning Man — walking through the mudd and being saved by a fan — gotta be a movie.”

Kevin Haggerty
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