{"id":694299,"date":"2025-10-11T16:25:15","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T13:25:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/does-the-controversy-over-the-riyadh-comedy-festival-actually-matter\/"},"modified":"2025-10-11T16:25:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T13:25:15","slug":"does-the-controversy-over-the-riyadh-comedy-festival-actually-matter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/does-the-controversy-over-the-riyadh-comedy-festival-actually-matter\/","title":{"rendered":"Does the Controversy Over the Riyadh Comedy Festival Actually Matter?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tThe inaugural Riyadh Comedy Festival closed on Thursday after a fortnight under the bright lights of Boulevard Riyadh City, and it\u2019s likely that the unprecedented event teeming with colorful and controversial Western comics will leave its mark on the now more outward-looking culture inside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The two-week event brought together, for the first time in the wealthy Islamic state\u2019s history, roughly 50 global stand-up comedians, some of whom are bona fide celebrity comics, and marked a major milestone in its incoming leadership\u2019s push for economic, social<\/a> and cultural diversification. Yet, while some are saying this was a major moment for stand-up comedy and for a nation until recently walled off from many forms of Western entertainment, others are decrying the event as a reputational laundering shame that led living comedy legends to sell out their values and bow to the demands of a murderous regime.<\/p>\n

\n\tWith a blockbuster roster of talent curated by KSA\u2019s General<\/a> Entertainment Authority, the Riyadh Comedy Festival was a comedy lover\u2019s dream: app<\/a>earances by headliners like Dave Chappelle, Bill Burr, Louis C.K. Kevin Hart, Whitney Cummings, Pete Davidson and Hannibal Buress as well as dozen of other comics in various stages of their career. The event was conceived as part of Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salem\u2019s Vision 2030 strategy to position KSA as a viable option for future international cultural and artistic events.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis all had the makings of a fabulous event at the sprawling entertainment and relaxation hub (which features a mini-replication of New York\u2019s Times Square), a clever move for a nation looking for good PR on the world stage, and a tempting gig for the comedians eager to find a new market of fans and a quick and sizable paycheck. Yet as the festival began, these upsides seemed to crash down after the censorship at the festival was revealed and comic Tim Dillon was axed from the list upon th discovery of previous slavery jokes about migrant workers in Saudi Arabia; soon, a chorus of criticism was lobbed at the attending comics, who detractors said would be sacrificing their freedom of speech for the payday (up to a whopping $1.6 million for a single set, with one comic saying he was paid 40 times his typical fee).<\/p>\n

\n\tMuch of the derision was coming from the performers\u2019 contemporaries \u2014 some of whom had rejected the invite on moral and political grounds, but many who were not actually invited to perform. All of the critics seemed to take exception to the idea of performing at an event held in a nation so associated with the 9\/11 attacks or by the same absolute monarchy whose restrictions on political and civil liberties are notorious, having won it the dubious honor of one of the \u201cworst of the worst\u201d in Freedom House\u2019s annual survey of political and civil rights conisisently over many years.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe PR situation escalated when comedian Atsuko Okatsuka rejected her invitation and took to the web to leak a list of stipulations in her declined contract, which indicated performers could include no bits that would violate certain Saudi censorship rules (no-no topics included the Saudi legal system and its royal family). Several comics spoke oeut against the festival \u2014 Marc Maron in a comedy set (\u201cFrom the folks that brought you 9\/11.\u201d); Shane Gillis on a podcast (\u201cYou don\u2019t 9\/11 your friends\u201d); and Zach Woods on TikTok.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\n\tThe Silicon Valley <\/em>actor went granular on the Saudis in his dripping-with-sarcasm viral video, where he sharply called out Saudi Minister of Entertainment Turki Al-Sheikh\u2019s history of human rights abuses. His crackdown on critics of the regime has been so prolific it earned him a wing in al-Ha\u2019ir prison named after his own nickname<\/a>. Human Rights Watch also weighed in on the festival, claiming that the comedians who went to perform in Riyadh are guilty of \u201cwhitewashing abuses\u201d of the Saudi state. The non-profit\u2019s campaign against the event shone a light on the dissidents who are currently detained in Saudi prisons, sometimes for minor offenses like speaking out for women\u2019s rights, as well as the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was dismembered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe seventh anniversary of [slain Saudi journalist] Jamal Khashoggi\u2019s brutal murder is no laughing matter, and comedians receiving hefty sums from Saudi authorities shouldn\u2019t be silent on prohibited topics in Saudi-like human rights or free speech,\u201d HRW Researcher Joey Shea said in a press release on the eve of the festival. \u201cEveryone performing in Riyadh should use this high-profile opportunity to call for the release of detained Saudi activists.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNone of the comics who performed in Riyadh made a mention of the detainees in Saudi prisons. They didn\u2019t talk about the Saudi Royal Family. Local human rights abuses didn\u2019t make it into anyone\u2019s set either. And despite the increased visibility of the festival after the controversy erupted, few repercussions for the comics who attended were immediately apparent as the comics started to return home. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter<\/em>, Chairman of\u00a0 Reputation Management Consultants Eric Schiffer<\/a> said that as comedians, these performers need not worry much as they reserve the right to tell their Riyadh story through their lens and with their perspective \u2014 in a manner to which their specific audience can relate. And this seems to have already begun.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tBy Oct. 1, with the festival in full swing some 10,000 miles away, the backlash to the backlash began. Fresh off his Saudi sojourn, marquee comic Bill Burr told his own podcast audience his experience in KSA was great; he then blasted what he called all of the \u201csanctimonious\u201d criticism: \u201cEverybody\u2019s phony about this stuff,\u201d he said. \u201cYou go to China, Dubai, Saudi Arabia \u2014 it\u2019s all complicated. But meeting audiences who just want to laugh? That\u2019s real.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tSoon Louis C.K. fessed up about his mixed feelings regarding performing there, which in the past he\u2019d rejected; the onetime top U.S. comedian who a few years back found himself canceled over inappropriate sexual conduct, said to Bill Maher in his first TV interview in eight years that there were \u201conly two restrictions\u201d in his contract and neither were in his set or even close to his wheelhouse. On deciding to join the festival, the comic recalled thinking that it \u201cjust feels like a good opportunity. And I just feel like comedy is a great way to get in and start talking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBut the controversy was still gaining traction in the U.S. as the opposition began to go for the jugular. David Cross posted to his website a letter addressing his contemporaries who were headed to the Middle East: \u201cUnless you open your sets with: \u2018This is dedicated to all of the widows and widowers and kids orphaned by this bloodthirsty oppressive regime, especially from the zany shenanigans on 9\/11. Never Forget, motherfuckers! Alright, so it\u2019s great to be here. I\u2019m gonna be killing it tonight! But in a good way! Straight up. No MbS.\u2019 Then your hypocrisy will never not be noted.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCross\u2019s accusations<\/a> pointed out the hypocrisy he saw in a cancel culture-averse comedian like Dave Chappelle performing in a country that so harshly curtails free speech. And with perhaps a little too on-the-nose timing, this whole debate overlapped with another free speech issue rippling across the U.S: half of the nation seemed to be in mourning over the late MAGA conservative Charlie Kirk, while the other half of the country was biting their tongues to avoid saying the wrong thing about the late young firebrand and Trump ally.<\/p>\n

\n\tMocking the U.S. for the cracks currently appearing in the First Amendment, Chappelle\u2019s set conjured some howling, whoops and hollers from the 6,000-person Saudi crowd, according to a New York Times <\/em>report.<\/a>\u00a0\u201cRight now in America, they say that if you talk about Charlie Kirk, that you\u2019ll get canceled,\u201d Chappelle said on Saturday. \u201cI don\u2019t know if that\u2019s true, but I\u2019m gonna find out.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThis grabbed him loads of publicity and, like some past iron-willed comics, provided a moment to display the strength of his brand and gave him the swagger that may have led him to believe, \u201cI can even endure the backlash if I, say, headline a festival for the Saudis.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDitto for Burr, who, critics be damned, decided to double down on his pro-Saudi statements this week \u2014 although, he did seem slightly rattled by the backlash he said followed him to his return stateside. Burr told Conan O\u2019Brien in a podcast interview that he had \u201cno fucking idea\u201d his Riyadh gig would lead to such controversy (\u201cI\u2019ve been going through this bullshit the whole week\u201d).\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tSo, with this major controversy over a massive global event in the rearview, the question today is whether the whole thing was worth it, for the performers or for the Saudis?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tSchiffer says it\u2019s an obvious win for the Saudis and their plan to bring in events to the Kingdom but also for their plan to create brand equity \u2014\u00a0 and the Riyadh Comedy Festival is merely a piece of that layered plan that\u2019s been in the works for several years. \u201cThey are positioning themselves as a mecca for cultural excellence across sports and entertainment, and we\u2019re in early innings of this,\u201d Schiffer explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe nation has already invested billions in LIV Golf, an upstart player-focused golf league set to hold a season-opening event in Riyadh in February. While critics have similarly made accusations of the Saudis\u2019 \u201csportswashing\u201d their human rights abuses, LIV Golf manages to peel off PGA players each year. They are also launching a new international basketball league, dubbed Project B, to compete with the NBA.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tEvents like comedy festivals and the Red Sea Film Festival, launched in 2019 to promote Saudi cinema, are now just other tentacles of this initiative, which is likely to grow in the coming years and eventually will be normalized, as will performing at them. Schiffer believes that, given the lack of memory for such perceived grievances, Chappelle, Burr, and the rest of the comics who made the trip<\/a> can rest easy and focus on their next projects.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThere are few comedians that will ever be materially affected in a lasting way because of this move \u2014 if any,\u201d he predicted. \u201cIf we pan out six months to a year, very few will even talk about this, nor remember it. What they will remember are all the latest, newest projects that many of these comedians will be involved in. And that\u2019ll occupy the space.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhat will further occur, in my opinion, is an ongoing set of investments in these cultural and entertainment connections that, in time, will dissipate many of the critics,\u201d he added. \u201cI think that what will occur is a perception of inevitability. And that\u2019s already cemented.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n