In a staggering display of hypocrisy, many popular comedians performed at the Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia earlier this month, a country known for its blatant human rights abuses and complete lack of free speech.
It featured a number of high-profile comedians and household names. Aziz Ansari, Pete Davidson, Bill Burr and even Kevin Hart were among the names, numbering over 30 in total. I’m especially disappointed in Hannibal Buress and Bill Burr. I firmly believe every single person who performed there should be utterly ashamed of themselves.
Many of these comedians have received flak online for their decision to participate, and rightfully so, especially from other comedians.
Comedian Shane Gillis, for example, said he was taking a principled stand by refusing to participate in the festival. Fellow comedian Atsuko Okatsuka posted an image on Threads of the restrictions being placed on the performing comedians and talked about how the performers are bowing down to censorship.
Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy and a totalitarian dictatorship responsible for a number of human rights abuses. The Human Rights Watch said in a news release on Sept. 23 that this festival is a way for Saudi Arabia to whitewash its reputation.
“The Saudi government is using the Riyadh Comedy Festival 2025 from September 26 to October 9 to deflect attention from its brutal repression of free speech and other pervasive human rights violations,” the news release stated.
I am appalled that comedians would take a paycheck in exchange for helping Saudi Arabia wash itself of its well-earned infamous reputation.
This is a country that killed and butchered a Washington Post columnist in Istanbul for daring to be critical of the Saudi royal family and its regime. His name was Jamal Khashoggi. By the way, some of the events at the festival actually fall on the seventh anniversary of his assassination.
What a great way for these comedians to commemorate the anniversary of his murder.
I find it incredibly ironic that many of these comedians are from the same crowd who complain about not being able to say anything anymore without being canceled. Now they’re performing in Saudi Arabia, one of the most repressive countries in the world, a country that actually murders people who dissent against the regime.
In the image that Okatsuka posted on Threads, we can see the restrictions placed on the comedians’ performances. They were banned from using any material that “may be considered to degrade, defame or bring into public disrepute, contempt, scandal, embarrassment or ridicule” the country, any religion or its royal family.
As some of these comedians would say, you just can’t say anything these days.
Comedians love to complain about cancel culture in the United States. Now, they have decided to go perform their sets in a country where being canceled potentially means you actually get murdered and dismembered by the government. It is as hypocritical as it can be.
Tim Dillon, one of the comedians who was originally scheduled to play at the festival, was dropped from the lineup by the Saudi government after he made a joke about how migrant workers are treated in Saudi Arabia.
Comedian Jimmy Carr, one of the headliners of the festival, called himself a “free speech absolutist” in a YouTube video he posted Dec. 6, 2024. It is laughable that he then goes on to perform in Saudi Arabia, a country that murders and dismembers its dissidents. I know I’ve hammered that point several times already, but it is a point that needs to be made.
As someone who loves comedy, it’s so gravely disheartening to see that some of the all-time comedy greats are willfully being complicit in the whitewashing of a totalitarian oppressive dictatorship in exchange for a fat paycheck.
Ashton Pack can be contacted at [email protected].
