{"id":2058941,"date":"2025-09-30T03:30:27","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T03:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2058941"},"modified":"2025-09-30T03:30:27","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T03:30:27","slug":"a-list-comedians-face-backlash-for-performing-at-saudi-arabian-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/a-list-comedians-face-backlash-for-performing-at-saudi-arabian-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"A-list comedians face backlash for performing at Saudi Arabian festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A comedy festival in the capital of Saudi Arabia has become a cultural flash point as major comedians face criticism for accepting seemingly lucrative deals to perform in a country that was virtually impossible to visit until 2019<\/a> and a pariah in much of the West for its human rights record.<\/p>\n

The Riyadh Comedy Festival<\/a>, which began Friday and runs through Oct. 9, features a variety of big names such as Dave Chappelle, Kevin Hart, Aziz Ansari, Pete Davidson, Andrew Schulz, Jo Koy, Bill Burr, Jessica Kirson, Jimmy Carr and Louis C.K.<\/p>\n

These comedians, most of them American, are now encountering resistance from some fans, human rights advocates and fellow comics in the industry.<\/p>\n

Marc Maron, host of the \u201cWTF\u201d podcast, blasted the festival<\/a> in a recent stand-up clip, joking that it was easy for him to \u201ctake the high road on this one\u201d considering he was not invited to perform.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, how do you even promote that?\u201d Maron said. \u201cLike, \u2018From the folks that brought you 9\/11, two weeks of laughter in the desert. Don\u2019t miss it.\u2019 I mean, the same guy that\u2019s gonna pay them is the same guy that paid that guy to bone-saw Jamal Khashoggi and put him in a f—ing suitcase.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Saudi Embassy in Washington, D.C., declined to comment. Saudi Arabia\u2019s General Entertainment Authority, which announced the festival in July, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe festival is the largest of its kind globally, bringing together a selection of award-winning comedy stars known for their outstanding performances on international stages and streaming platforms,\u201d the Saudi Press Agency wrote in its announcement for the General Entertainment Authority. \u201cIt reflects the efforts to amplify Riyadh\u2019s status as a leading destination for major cultural and artistic events.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia, the oil-rich home of Islam\u2019s two holiest sites, was for years among the most socially conservative nations on Earth with a morality police enforcing a strict interpretation of Shariah. In recent years under the rule of de facto leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country expanded its cultural and political influence by diversifying its economy and investing in sports, entertainment and tourism to improve its global image. Along with this, the crown prince oversaw a sweeping crackdown on dissent \u2014 imprisoning disgruntled royals, women\u2019s rights advocates, and reforming clerics as well as adherents to previously government-sanctioned proponents of strict Wahhabi Islam.<\/p>\n

Celebrities and influencers have often been criticized for performing in the country<\/a> or participating in tourism campaigns<\/a>, and FIFA drew condemnation last year for selecting Saudi Arabia to host the 2034 World Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Shane Gillis, who said he was offered an invite, claimed that the organizers \u201cdoubled the bag,\u201d or the amount of money offered, after he declined to participate<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a significant bag, but I\u2019d already said no,\u201d Gillis said on his podcast. \u201cI took a principled stand.\u201d<\/p>\n

On TikTok and Instagram, verified accounts that appeared to belong to Turki Al-Sheikh<\/a>, a royal court adviser who has emerged as a powerful figure in sports and entertainment as part of Saudi Arabia\u2019s push into the global culture industry, posted videos of Chappelle and Hart.<\/p>\n

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In a news release last week, Human Rights Watch wrote<\/a> that the Saudi government is using the festival \u201cto deflect attention from its brutal repression of free speech and other pervasive human rights violations\u201d and called on the performers \u201cto publicly urge Saudi authorities to free unjustly detained Saudi dissidents, journalists, and human rights activists.\u201d<\/p>\n

The nonprofit watchdog organization noted that some of the events land on the seventh anniversary of the assassination of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi<\/a>, who was killed at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul by intelligence operatives with close ties to the crown prince. The festival also takes place just months after Saudi authorities executed Turki al-Jasser<\/a>, a journalist known for exposing corruption within the Saudi royal family.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe seventh anniversary of Jamal Khashoggi\u2019s brutal murder is no laughing matter,\u201d Joey Shea, Saudi Arabia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. \u201cAnd comedians receiving hefty sums from Saudi authorities shouldn\u2019t be silent on prohibited topics in Saudi like human rights or free speech.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other listed performers for the festival include: Sebastian Maniscalco, Maz Jobrani, Tom Segura, Whitney Cummings, Jimeoin, Russell Peters, Andrew Santino, Bobby Lee, Chris Distefano, Mark Normand, Gabriel Iglesias, Hannibal Buress, Sam Morril, Jeff Ross, Omid Djalili, Ali Siddiq, Zarna Garg, Chris Tucker and Ben Hart.<\/p>\n

These performers did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

The Saudi government has been censured by dozens of countries<\/a>, and in 2024 it was denied a second attempt<\/a> at scoring a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council. In the U.S., relatives of victims of the Sept. 11 terror attacks have accused the Saudi government of having potential ties to the attack<\/a>. (A direct link has not been proven.)<\/p>\n

But it has also made significant inroads with some powerful figures in the West, most notably the Trump family. President Donald Trump\u2019s son-in-law Jared Kushner worked with the Saudis to secure a $2 billion investment<\/a> in his firm and recently partnered with the country\u2019s public investment fund to strike a $55 billion deal <\/a>to take the video game giant Electronic Arts private. Trump has maintained a close relationship with the crown prince<\/a> throughout the Saudi royal\u2019s fraught tenure.<\/p>\n

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The festival and subsequent fallout has also provided a rare window into these events and, in particular, the money and self-censorship often involved.<\/p>\n

One comedian, Atsuko Okatsuka, posted screenshots<\/a> to Threads of what she said was her invite to the festival, including a section on \u201cContent Restrictions<\/a>\u201d that prohibited the artists from performing material that \u201cmay be considered to degrade, defame, or bring into public disrepute, contempt, scandal, embarrassment, or ridicule\u201d the country, its royal family or any religion.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of the \u2018you can\u2019t say anything anymore!\u2019 Comedians are doing the festival \ud83d\ude02\u201d Okatsuka wrote. \u201cthey had to adhere to censorship rules about the types of jokes they can make.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mike Birbiglia<\/a> and Leslie Liao<\/a> were among the comics who responded to her post, sharing that they had rejected the offer as well.<\/p>\n

Stavros Halkias similarly revealed in a podcast episode with Distefano, who did agree to perform, that he didn\u2019t take the deal<\/a>. Distefano told Halkias that while he \u201cdidn\u2019t want to do it either,\u201d his fianc\u00e9e had ultimately urged him to \u201ctake that f—ing money.\u201d<\/p>\n

At least one comedian, however, appears to have changed his mind despite initially agreeing to perform. Nimesh Patel, who was slated to get on stage Sunday, posted a TikTok video over the weekend sharing that he recently canceled his appearance<\/a> after \u201chaving a change of heart.\u201d That video has since become unavailable.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll just do 40 shows that I had not planned on doing here in the perfectly clean, moral, above-everyone-else, United States of America \u2014 I\u2019m tired just thinking about it \u2014 to make up for the lost bag,\u201d Patel said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, comedian and podcaster Tim Dillon said in an episode of his podcast that he was dropped from the festival<\/a> for making a joke about the country \u201chaving slaves.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m gonna get fired again from people that are not even Saudis. I\u2019m gonna get fired by people who don\u2019t chop hands off. I\u2019m gonna get fired by reasonable people. I\u2019m gonna get fired by people that don\u2019t practice Shariah law,\u201d Dillon said. \u201cThis is the most controversial the people who fire me will ever be. Let me relish in this. Let\u2019s take this win.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Saudi Embassy did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation about the cancellation of Patel\u2019s and Dillon\u2019s shows.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n