The inaugural Riyadh Comedy Festival concluded on Thursday after a fortnight under the bright lights of Riyadh City Boulevard, and it is likely that this unprecedented event packed with colorful and controversial Western comics will leave its mark on the now more outward-looking culture of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The two-week event brought together, for the first time in the history of the wealthy Islamic State, around fifty comedians from around the world, some of whom are veritable celebrities, and marked a major step in its new leaders’ efforts towards economic, social and cultural diversification. Yet while some say it is a major moment for stand-up and for a nation until recently isolated from many forms of Western entertainment, others denounce the event as a shameful reputation laundering that has led living comedy legends to betray their values and bow to the demands of a murderous regime.
With a roster of blockbuster talent curated by KSA’s General Entertainment Authority, the Riyadh Comedy Festival was a comedy lover’s dream: appearances from headliners like Dave Chappelle, Bill Burr, Louis CK Kevin Hart, Whitney Cummings, Pete Davidson and Hannibal Buress plus dozens of other acts drawn at different stages of their careers. The event was designed as part of Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salem’s Vision 2030 strategy aimed at positioning Saudi Arabia as a viable option for future international cultural and artistic events.
It all had the makings of a fabulous event at this sprawling entertainment and relaxation hub (which features a mini-replication of New York’s Times Square), a smart move for a nation seeking good PR on the world stage, and a tempting gig for comedians eager to find a new market of fans and a quick, big payday. Yet early in the festival, these advantages seemed to collapse after festival censorship was exposed and comedian Tim Dillon was delisted following the discovery of earlier jokes about slavery about migrant workers in Saudi Arabia; Soon, a chorus of criticism was launched against the comics in attendance, who detractors claimed would sacrifice their freedom of expression for the pay (up to $1.6 million for a single set, with one comic claiming he was paid 40 times his usual fee).
Much of the derision came from the artists’ contemporaries – some of whom had rejected the invitation on moral and political grounds, but many were not actually invited to perform. All critics seemed to object to the idea of performing at an event hosted in a country so associated with the 9/11 attacks or by the same absolute monarchy whose restrictions on political and civil liberties are notorious, earning him the dubious honor of one of the “worst of the worst” in Freedom House’s annual survey of political and civil rights over many years.
The PR situation worsened when comedian Atsuko Okatsuka rejected his invitation and took to the web to disclose a list of stipulations from her declined contract, which stated that artists could not include anything that would violate certain Saudi censorship rules (no-no topics included the Saudi legal system and its royal family). Several comics spoke out against the festival: Marc Maron in a comic setting (“People who brought you September 11.”); Shane Gillis on a podcast (“You Don’t Do 9/11 with Your Friends”); and Zach Woods on TikTok.
THE Silicon Valley The actor came down hard on the Saudis in his sarcasm-filled viral video, in which he sharply denounced Saudi Entertainment Minister Turki Al-Sheikh’s history of human rights abuses. His crackdown on critics of the regime was so prolific that it earned him a wing of al-Ha’ir prison, named after his own nickname. Human Rights Watch also weighed in on the festival, saying the comedians who came to perform in Riyadh were guilty of “whitewashing abuses” by the Saudi state. The nonprofit’s campaign against the event highlighted dissidents currently held in Saudi prisons, sometimes for minor offenses like defending women’s rights, as well as the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was dismembered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.
“The seventh anniversary of [slain Saudi journalist] “The brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi is no laughing matter, and comedians who receive large sums of money from Saudi authorities should not remain silent on topics banned in Saudi Arabia, such as human rights or freedom of expression,” Joey Shea, a researcher at HRW, said in a press release on the eve of the festival. “Everyone performing in Riyadh should use this high-profile opportunity to call for the release of detained Saudi activists.”
None of the comedians who performed in Riyadh made any mention of the detainees in Saudi prisons. They didn’t talk about the Saudi royal family. Local human rights violations have also not been addressed. And despite the increased visibility of the festival after the controversy erupted, little impact on the comics in attendance was immediately apparent when comics began going home. In an interview with The Hollywood ReporterPresident of Reputation Management Consultants Eric Schiffer said that as comedians, these artists need not worry too much because they reserve the right to tell their story of Riyadh through their lens and with their point of view – in a way that their specific audience can relate to. And it seems to have already started.
On October 1, with the festival in full swing some 10,000 miles from home, the backlash began. Fresh from his time in Saudi Arabia, famous comedian Bill Burr told his own podcast audience that his experience in Saudi Arabia was great; he then lambasted what he called all “sanctimonious” criticism: “Everyone is wrong about this stuff,” he said. “You go to China, to Dubai, to Saudi Arabia, everything is complicated. But meeting audiences who just want to laugh? It’s real.”
Soon, Louis CK confessed his mixed feelings about playing there, which he had dismissed in the past; the former top American comedian who a few years ago found himself canceled for inappropriate sexual conduct, told Bill Maher in his first television interview in eight years that there were “only two restrictions” in his contract and neither of them were on his set or even near his wheelhouse. In deciding to join the festival, the comedian recalled thinking that it “sounds like a good opportunity. And I just feel like comedy is a great way to get in and start talking.”
But the controversy continued to gain ground in the United States as the opposition began to go for the jugular. David Cross posted a letter to his contemporaries heading to the Middle East on his website: “Unless you open your trays with: ‘This is dedicated to all the widows, widowers and children orphaned by this bloodthirsty oppressive regime, especially because of the crazy shenanigans of 9/11. Never forget, motherfuckers! Alright, so it’s great to be here. I’m going to kill him tonight! But in a good time. way ! Directly no. Mbs.’ Then your hypocrisy will never be ignored.
Cross’ accusations highlighted the hypocrisy he saw in an anti-culture comedian like Dave Chappelle performing in a country that so harshly restricts free speech. And with perhaps a little too opportune timing, this entire debate overlapped with another free speech issue reverberating across the United States: Half the nation seemed to be in mourning for the late MAGA conservative Charlie Kirk, while the other half of the country bit its tongue to avoid saying untrue things about the late young firebrand and Trump ally.
Mocking the United States for the cracks currently appearing in the First Amendment, Chappelle’s set evoked howls, screams and screams from the Saudi crowd of 6,000, according to one report. New York Times report. “Right now in America they say if you talk about Charlie Kirk you’ll get canceled,” Chappelle said Saturday. “I don’t know if that’s true, but I’m going to find out.”
It gained him a lot of publicity and, like some old iron-willed comedians, provided him with a moment to display the strength of his brand and gave him the audacity that perhaps led him to believe: “I can even endure the backlash if, for example, I headline a festival for the Saudis.” »
Ditto for Burr, who, critics be damned, decided to double down on his pro-Saudi statements this week — even though he seemed slightly shaken by the backlash he said followed him upon his return to the United States. Burr told Conan O’Brien in a podcast interview that he had “no fucking idea” that his Riyadh concert would result in such controversy (“I’ve been going through this bullshit all week”).
So, with this major controversy over a massive global event behind us, the question now is, was it all worth it, for the artists or for the Saudis?
Schiffer says this is a clear victory for the Saudis and their plan to hold events in the Kingdom, but also for their plan to create brand equity – and the Riyadh Comedy Festival is just one element of this multi-layered plan that has been several years in the making. “They position themselves as the mecca of cultural excellence in sports and entertainment, and we’re just at the beginning,” Schiffer explained.
The country has already invested billions in LIV Golf, a new player-focused golf league, which will hold a season-opening event in Riyadh in February. While critics have also accused the Saudis of “sportswashing” for their human rights abuses, LIV Golf manages to eliminate players from the PGA every year. They are also launching a new international basketball league, called Project B, to compete with the NBA.
Events such as 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, become normalized, as are performances at these events. Schiffer believes that, given the lack of memory for such perceived grievances, Chappelle, Burr and the rest of the comics who made the trip can sleep easy and focus on their next projects.
“Few comedians will ever be materially and sustainably affected by this decision – if any,” he predicted. “If we spread it out six months to a year, very few will talk about it and not remember it. What they will remember are all the latest and newest projects that a lot of these comedians will be involved in. And that will take up the space.
“What will happen further, in my view, is a continued set of investments in these cultural and entertainment connections that, over time, will dispel a lot of the criticism,” he added. “I think what’s going to happen is a perception of inevitability. And that’s already cemented.”
