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A-list comedians are taking heat from their industry peers for their upcoming participation in the contentious Riyadh Comedy Festival, kicking off Friday in Saudi Arabia, which has been under scrutiny for years over human rights abuses<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n Dave Chappelle, Aziz Ansari and Pete Davidson are among the comedians on the star lineup. Their representatives did not reply to The Times\u2019 requests for comment.<\/p>\n The comedy festival is the latest high-profile event in Saudi Arabia to court U.S. celebrities and advance the country\u2019s Vision 2030 plan<\/a> to diversify its economy and raise its global profile. The country in 2019 launched the Red Sea International Film Festival with this mission and has since contributed heavily to Hollywood productions and L.A.\u2019s broader entertainment industry<\/a>. In 2018, the kingdom announced plans to spend $64 billion on its entertainment sector in the next decade.<\/p>\n Billed as \u201cthe world\u2019s largest comedy festival,\u201d<\/u><\/a> the Riyadh Comedy Festival will run Friday through Oct. 9 in Saudi Arabia\u2019s capital. More than 50 international comedians are slated to perform a mix of stand-up, improv and live talk shows.<\/p>\n The lineup includes Kevin Hart<\/a>, Andrew Schulz<\/a>, Sebastian Maniscalco<\/a>, Bill Burr, Louis C.K., Whitney Cummings, Gabriel Iglesias<\/a>, Jo Koy<\/a>, Hannibal Buress<\/a>, Maz Jobrani<\/a>, Zarna Garg, Bobby Lee, Jeff Ross, Andrew Santino, Tom Segura<\/a>, Chris Tucker and more.<\/p>\n Comedy Central alum Jim Jefferies said he was strongly discouraged from attending the festival.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople have been going, \u2018Oh, how dare you go over there after they killed a reporter?\u2019\u201d Jefferies said during an August appearance on Theo Von\u2019s \u201cThis Past Weekend\u201d<\/u><\/a> podcast.<\/p>\n The comedian went on to say that the allegation was not enough to compel him to back out of the festival.<\/p>\n \u201cOne reporter was killed by the government,\u201d Jefferies said. \u201cUnfortunate, but not a f\u2014 hill that I\u2019m gonna die on.\u201d<\/p>\n Tim Dillon<\/a> was scheduled to perform, but was later dropped by the Riyadh festival, he said, because of jokes he made about Saudi Arabia\u2019s alleged use of slave labor.<\/p>\n As for why he accepted the gig in the first place, Dillon said last month on \u201cThe Tim Dillon Show\u201d<\/a> that he was \u201cbeing paid a lot of money to not care about what they do in their country.\u201d<\/p>\n Dillon also mocked his critics during the episode, impersonating them in a droning voice: \u201cThey don\u2019t believe in anything, these people.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGet over it. We\u2019re going to Riyadh,\u201d Dillon said. \u201cThe House of Saud is paying us hundreds of thousands of dollars, some of us millions, not me.\u201d<\/p>\n The comedian claimed<\/a> on his show that he was offered $375,000 to perform at the festival and that his higher-profile peers would receive upwards of $1.6 million for their time. <\/p>\n The Saudi government\u2019s General Entertainment Authority, the body producing the festival, said<\/a> the event \u201creflects the efforts to amplify Riyadh\u2019s status as a leading destination for major cultural and artistic events.\u201d<\/p>\n In a press release<\/u><\/a> issued Tuesday, nonprofit watchdog Human Rights Watch said the Riyadh Comedy Festival was the Saudi government\u2019s attempt to \u201cdeflect attention from its brutal repression of free speech and other pervasive human rights violations.\u201d<\/p>\n Saudi Arabia\u2019s Public Investment Fund was previously accused of attempting to repair its reputation with the 2021 launch of LIV Golf. Critics argued the golf series was a deliberate attempt at \u201csportswashing\u201d by \u201cbanking on the glamour of athletics to outshine concerns about a history of human rights abuses,\u201d The Times<\/a> reported at the time. <\/p>\n Human Rights Watch noted in its Tuesday release that the festival is scheduled to take place during the seventh anniversary of journalist Jamal Khashoggi\u2019s murder by Saudi agents<\/a> and just months after Saudi journalist Turki al-Jasser was sentenced to death<\/a> \u201capparently for his public speech,\u201d as the nonprofit wrote in its release<\/a>.<\/p>\n Human Rights Watch said festival performers, in order \u201cto avoid contributing to laundering the Saudi government\u2019s reputation, should use the comedy festival to publicly urge Saudi authorities to free unjustly detained Saudi dissidents, journalists, and human rights activists.\u201d<\/p>\n Comedian Marc Maron panned the festival during a stand-up set and shared a video from the performance Tuesday on Instagram<\/u><\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cI mean, how do you even promote that?\u201d Maron said. \u201cYou know, like, \u2018From the folks that brought you 9\/11, two weeks of laughter in the desert. Don\u2019t miss it!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The host of the \u201cWTF With Marc Maron\u201d podcast, which is ending this fall after 16 years, went on to say that because he wasn\u2019t asked to perform, \u201cit\u2019s kind of easy for me to take the high road on this one.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEasy to maintain your integrity when no one\u2019s offering to buy it out,\u201d he quipped.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Office\u201d actor and comedian Zach Woods also slammed the festival in a satirical video posted Wednesday on Instagram<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cGuys, it\u2019s that special time of year,\u201d Woods said, mimicking the tone of an advertiser. \u201cIt\u2019s the Riyadh Comedy Festival and all of your favorite comedians are performing at the pleasure of Turki Al-Sheikh.\u201d <\/p>\n Woods noted that Al-Sheikh, chairman of the General Entertainment Authority, has detained so many people for tweets he deemed critical of \u201cthe soccer team or whatever\u201d that a wing of the Al-Ha\u2019ir Prison is unofficially named after him<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cNow there\u2019s a lot of drips, killjoys and dweebazoids who are saying, \u2018Oh, they shouldn\u2019t do comedy over there because it\u2019s whitewashing a regime that just in June killed a journalist and killed Jamal Khashoggi and played a big role in 9\/11,\u2019\u201d Woods said. <\/p>\n \u201cShut up. Name one comedian who hasn\u2019t whored themselves out to a dictator,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Unlike Maron, stand-up comic Shane Gillis said<\/a> he was invited to perform at the comedy festival, but wound up declining despite the event organizers doubling their initial offer.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a significant bag. But I\u2019d already said no. I took a principled stand,\u201d Gillis said on an episode of \u201cMatt and Shane\u2019s Secret Podcast,\u201d<\/a> which he co-hosts with Matt McCusker.<\/p>\n Gillis said he was heavily pressured to accept the gig during a different episode of the podcast<\/a> in July.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone\u2019s like, \u2018Yeah you should do it. Everyone\u2019s doing it,\u2019\u201d Gillis said. \u201cIt\u2019s like, \u2018For Saudis?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Gillis ultimately decided, \u201cI think I\u2019m gonna pass.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nWho\u2019s on the lineup?<\/h2>\n
Why is the festival controversial?<\/h2>\n
Who\u2019s speaking out?<\/h2>\n