Comedian Jessica Kirson, who performed at the Riyadh Comedy Festival in late-September, received a standing ovation. Kirson’s a Jewish lesbian, and homosexuality is outlawed in Saudi Arabia, punishable by death. But Kirson said that Saudi authorities gave her the green light to be openly gay on stage. The comedian’s groundbreaking performance has potential to improve the lives of gay people in that nation, but upon returning to the U.S. her fans—many of whom are gay—forced her to apologize for doing the show. She'll now donate her fee to a human rights organization.
The Saudis, armed with their vast oil wealth and looking to spruce up their tawdry global image, didn't skimp on their comedy lineup. Featured comics, among the 50 or so who were invited, included Dave Chapelle, Bill Burr, Andrew Schultz, Kevin Hart, Pete Davidson, and Louis C.K. Tim Dillon was invited to appear—one show for $375,000—but after making comments about forced labor in Saudi Arabia he was disinvited. The comedian said the top stars in Riyadh are making from $1 million to $1.6 million, far above what other comedy festivals pay. All of the performers were forbidden in their contracts from poking fun at the Saudi royal family, Islam, or the government.
While admitting he had “mixed feelings” about going to Riyadh, Louis CK defended his decision, describing it as "a positive thing" and "a great way to get in and start talking.” In a recent appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher, he explained that he’d previously turned down invitations to perform in Arab countries, but saw the festival as "a good opportunity" to engage with an audience that's "opening up." He mentioned the standing ovation received by Jessica Kirson after her set, arguing that such moments could foster progress.
Louis CK made some points, but tarnished them when he started talking about Saudi officials telling him he couldn't talk about Islam or the government. “I don't have jokes about those topics," he said, taking the easy way out. Certainly a stand-up comedian of his stature’s capable of writing a couple of new jokes pertaining to the foreign country he's performing in.
Bill Burr’s one of the most successful comics—someone who’s quick to lay a claim to what he thinks is the moral high ground. The Boston-raised Burr said, “Free Luigi!” on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in reference to Luigi Mangione, who's charged with executing a health insurance executive on a Manhattan street. Burr, who fashions himself as a modern-day Robespierre, wants Mangione out of prison because he thinks the corporate greed of health insurance companies justifies the murder of its execs. He's posturing as a man of the people with that stance, but doesn't mind getting paid by a regime that locks up and tortures people for expressing their opinions. A million and a half dollars can make it easy to forget how helping Saudi Arabia burnish its image doesn't square with his “kill the greedy rich” advocacy.
Responding to the criticism of his Riyadh appearance on his podcast, Burr said nothing critical about the Saudi regime, even though he'd presumably already been paid. He said he'd be happy to engage with anyone who had a problem with what he did, but that he wasn't going to do that because the media would edit his words to make him look bad. Playing the victim was the best he could do, perhaps realizing that there was no way to justify his hypocrisy. From the many responses to his response I've seen online, nobody's buying that weak sauce.
One of comedian Dave Chappelle’s main hobby horses is mocking cancel culture. He gets paid well for doing that at home, and also got paid well for agreeing to not do that in Riyadh, unless it was related to the U.S.. When someone gets cancelled in Saudi Arabia, they lose much more than their job and their income. They end up in a prison with minimal medical care and sadistic guards who administer beatings, electric shocks, and waterboardings. Chappelle, during his set in Riyadh on September 27, said, “Right now in America, they say that if you talk about Charlie Kirk, that you’ll get canceled,” adding that it’s “easier to talk” in Saudi Arabia than in the U.S.
Maybe the Saudis threw in an extra half million for the comedian to spew such nonsense. The Saudi government surveils social media, looking for people to arrest for various speech violations. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the murder of Jamal Khashoggi on October 2, 2018, after the Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist criticized the Saudi government. That's what Saudi-style cancel culture looks like. There has to be a joke here, but Chappelle talked about Charlie Kirk instead. It takes some twisted thinking to try to convince the Saudis, who live under sharia law and are forced to self-censor to avoid prison, that they have more free speech rights than Americans, who all enjoy the protections of the First Amendment.
Tim Dillon’s comment that the Saudis paid him enough to look the other way points to an interesting question involving this comedy festival: What was the number that tipped the scales for Bill Burr and Dave Chappelle, who make upwards of $500,000 for comedy shows at major venues? If Dillon is right about the top fee at the festival being $1.6 million, then that's their number, as they were the two biggest names there. Chappelle’s net worth is reportedly around $85 million, and Burr’s $25 million. My guess is that, in the long run, both comics will realize it wasn't worth the money. Saying “fuck you” to the Saudis rather letting the Saudis tell them what they could say on stage—anathema to comedians—would’ve made them look like free-speech heroes. Instead, Chappelle embarrassed himself in Riyadh and Burr came out looking like a whiny backslider.
Shane Gillis, a comic star on par with those two, did say “fuck you” to the Saudis, even after they doubled their initial offer, and he's the one who came out on top. “You don't 9/11 your friends,” is the way he put it.