Several comedians have spoken out against Saudi Arabia’s star-studded Riyadh Comedy Festival.
Shane Gillis sat down with the Secret Podcast, where he mentioned that he declined the invitation because most of the 9/11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia.
He explained he turned down a “significant” check from Saudi Arabia. "I'm not doing it. Then they doubled the bag," he said, per Free Beacon. "It was a significant bag. But I'd already said no. I took a principled stand."
He added, “You don't 9/11 your friends.”
Marc Maron slammed comedians for agreeing to perform at the festival, also citing Saudi Arabia’s long list of human rights abuses.
“How do you even promote that?” Maron asked his audience during a stand-up set. He then reportedly referenced 9/11 and the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
“But don’t let that stop the yuks, it’s gonna be a good time.” He also noted that he didn’t receive an invitation to perform: “Easy to maintain your integrity when no one’s offering to buy it out.”
The event is an attempt by Saudi Arabia to reframe Riyadh’s image as a destination for international comedy. Dave Chappelle, Kevin Hart, Bill Burr, Aziz Ansari, Gabriel Iglesias, Louis CK, and more are set to perform from Sept. 26 to Oct. 9 in the capital city.
Actor and comedian Zach Woods took to TikTok, echoing Gillis and Maron.
“Now there's a lot of drips, killjoys, and dweezbazoids, who are saying, ‘Oh they shouldn't do comedy over there because it's like whitewashing a regime that just in June killed a journalist, killed Jamal Khashoggi, and played a big role in 9/11,’” Woods joked.