Louis C.K. on Friday defended his decision to perform at the Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia, which has a notoriously poor human rights record, amid backlash from fans.
“People have been playing Saudi Arabia for years,” C.K. told “Real Time” host Bill Maher during an interview at the top of the show. “Comedians have been going and playing Arab countries, there was a film festival there recently, like, it’s kind of opened up.”
The comedian, who was accused in 2017 by five separate women of masturbating in front of them without consent — and became one of the most recognizable faces of the #MeToo movement — described the opportunity to perform in Saudi Arabia as “a positive thing.”
C.K., born Louis Szekely, noted that a lesbian Jewish peer of his received a standing ovation after her set there. C.K. argued that he performs in many other countries with spotty track records, and that potentially easing tensions through comedy could be a net good.
Those tensions emerge from several moments in Saudi Arabia’s recent history: Saudi officials allegedly played a role in the 9/11 attacks in 2001. There was also the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. Then there are multiple stories of human rights abuses.
C.K. said Friday that he previously always declined to perform in Arab countries, but revealed the only two restrictions he was given in Riyadh concerned jokes about Islam or the Saudi government. The comedian said he doesn’t have material on either of those subjects.
“It used to be when I got offers from places like that, there would be a long list, and I’d just say, ‘No, I don’t need that,’” he said. “But when I heard it’s opening, I thought, that’s awfully interesting. That just feels like a good opportunity.”
He continued, “And I just think comedy is a great way to get in and start talking.”
Chris Pizzello/Invision/Associated Press
Fellow comic Dave Chappelle reportedly joked on stage there that “it’s easier to talk here than it is in America,” decrying the so-called “cancel culture” of the U.S. Bill Burr, who also performed in Riyadh, said it was one of the “top three experiences” of his life.
All of them were criticized by fellow comedians David Cross and Marc Maron.
“I think the whole discussion is worthy,” C.K. said Friday. “I’m glad these guys brought this stuff up, I’m glad that people are challenging this thing, because you shouldn’t just pretend it’s something it’s not. So don’t fool yourself … I had mixed feelings about it, too.
“I struggled about going once I started hearing about what everybody was saying,” he added. “There’s some good in it, maybe some bad in it. But I think for me it cuts toward going. That’s my decision, and I know where it’s coming from, because I can see right inside myself.”
Saudi Arabia has been accused by human rights advocates of trying to distract from their abuses with glitzy events just like the Riyadh festival, however. Maher asked C.K. on Friday if he agrees with Chappelle that comics can speak more freely there than in America.
He replied through laughter, “Yeah I don’t know if that’s true.”
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