Posted 4 minutes agoSubscribe to BuzzFeed Daily NewsletterCaret DownHere's What's Going On With That Riyadh Comedy Festival And Why The Comedians Are Being Called Out"Name one comedian who hasn't whored themself out to a dictator."by Mychal ThompsonBuzzFeed StaffFacebookPinterestLinkHot Topic🔥 Full coverage and conversation on Politics Some of your favorite comedians are facing backlash because of their involvement with Saudi Arabia's Riyadh Comedy Festival. Adam Pantozzi / NBAE via Getty Images The initial lineup of the Riyadh Comedy Festival includes Kevin Hart, Aziz Ansari, Hannibal Buress, Bill Burr, Dave Chappelle, Louis C.K., Pete Davidson, Chris Tucker, and more. Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images for REFORM Alliance, CBS Photo Archive / CBS via Getty Images The event, which is billed as the "world's largest comedy festival," lasts from Sept. 26 to Oct. 9 and features performances from the biggest names, reportedly as part of Saudi Arabia's efforts to expand its entertainment and tourism industries. Handout / MD Beast via Getty Images When the government lifted a decades-long ban on live music performances in 2017, events like the Soundstorm music festival have worked to improve the country's economy.
This year's music festival in December will feature headliners like Post Malone, Calvin Harris, and Benson Boone. Like the Riyadh Comedy Festival, the music festival and artists involved have received backlash from human rights groups. Several comedians, who are apparently not involved with the festival, have spoken out against their peers' decision, including Marc Maron, who posted a clip of his routine to Instagram, referencing the allegations of Saudi officials' involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks, although their government has denied this. Gilbert Flores / Variety via Getty Images BuzzFeed TrendingHot TopicLet's chat about all things PoliticsSee our Politics Discussions In the clip, Marc said, "I mean, how do you even promote that? 'From the folks that brought you 9/11. Two weeks of laughter in the desert, don't miss it!'" he said. "Full disclosure: I was not asked to perform at the Riyadh Comedy Festival, so it's kind of easy for me to take the high road on this one. Easy to maintain your integrity when no one's offering to buy it out." Marc Maron / Via instagram.com In a satirical TikTok video that has since gone viral, comedian Zach Woods specifically brought attention to Saudi Minister of Entertainment, Turki Al-Sheikh's alleged human rights abuses. Kayla Oaddams / WireImage "There's a lot drips, killjoys and dweebazoids who say, 'They shouldn't do comedy over there because they're whitewashing a regime that, just in June, killed a journalist, and killed Jamal Khashoggi," he said, adding, "Shut up! Name one comedian who hasn't whored themself out to a dictator." Zach Woods / Via tiktok.com On a Sept. 25 episode of Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast, Shane Gillis said he turned down a "significant bag" to perform at the festival, which, he claimed the organizers even attempted to double at one point. Kevin Winter / Getty Images "I took a principled stand. I didn't even really think about it," he said. "You don't 9/11 your friends." Shane Gillis / Via youtube.com Comedian Atsuko Okatsuka shared an X post, sharing the alleged offer for the festival that she turned down, writing, "FYI there are more of us that said no to the Riyadh comedy festival in Saudi Arabia. Here's the offer I got back in July."FYI there are more of us that said no to the Riyadh comedy festival in Saudi Arabia. Here's the offer I got back in July pic.twitter.com/wc4iOIfrhv- Atsuko Okatsuka (@AtsukoComedy) September 26, 2025 Twitter: @AtsukoComedy She continued by showing a screenshot of the content restrictions. "The money is coming straight from the Crown Prince, who actively executes journalists, ppl wnonlethal drug offenses, bloggers, etc w/out due process. A lot of the 'you can't say anything anymore!' Comedians are doing the festival they had to adhere to censorship rules to do it," she wrote. Cristian Lopez / Getty Images The nonprofit Human Rights Watch has accused the Saudi government of using the festival to "deflect attention from its brutal repression of free speech and other pervasive human rights violations." In a Sept. 23 statement, the organization said, "Participating comedians, to avoid contributing to laundering the Saudi government's reputation, should use the comedy festival to publicly urge Saudi authorities to free unjustly detained Saudi dissidents, journalists and human rights activists." Just on Aug. 28, The New York Times reported that a federal judge rejected Saudi Arabia's attempt to dismiss a lawsuit by the families of Sept. 11, which alleges the Saudi government agents in the United States supplied an "essential support network" for the hijackers involved in the 9/11 attacks. A 2016 law passed by Congress allowed an exception for Saudi Arabia to be sued, despite foreign governments usually being pro