Rick Rubin Appears in Polymarket Ad, Soundtracked by Kanye West

The figure seated in a meditative pose during FIFA World Cup commercial breaks is unmistakable: Rick Rubin, the eight-time Grammy-winning producer, his white mane framing a calm that borders on philosophical. He’s selling Polymarket, a prediction betting platform, and his narration opens with a question: “If you could ask one question, what would you ask?” The spot is scored by the intro to Kanye West’s “Runaway,” from the 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

Polymarket’s choice to license West’s music is striking, given the rapper’s documented antisemitism and praise of Adolf Hitler. West published an apology in the Wall Street Journal in January, acknowledging his bipolar disorder, but the ad arrives amid a broader severing of ties by many entities. The platform seems to have calculated that the risk is worth the haunting piano line.

Rubin’s involvement is almost certainly well-compensated, lending the gambling ad a veneer of artful introspection. Yet his ongoing production work tells a different story. In the 2020s alone, he has produced albums for Imagine Dragons, Lil Uzi Vert, Neil Young, and Tyler Childers. He most recently worked with The Strokes on their forthcoming album Reality Awaits, and directed an eight-part documentary series on JAY-Z set for HBO this fall.

The ad sits alongside Rubin’s stated enthusiasm for AI vibe coding—another internet-age tool he has endorsed. For a figure whose name is attached to foundational records, the Polymarket spot is a reminder that even the most revered producers can trade on their mystique for a quick payout.