Louis CK has defended his decision to perform at the Riyadh comedy festival in Saudi Arabia after fellow comedians criticised the big names taking part as whitewashing a regime guilty of human rights abuses.
Speaking on Real Time With Bill Maher, CK, who is co-headlining the festival with the British comedian Jimmy Carr on Monday night local time, said other comedians had been “really surprised” by the response from audiences in Riyadh so far.
Dave Chappelle, Bill Burr, Kevin Hart, Pete Davidson, Whitney Cummings, Aziz Ansari, Hannibal Burress, Jim Jefferies, Jo Koy, Tom Segura and Jeff Ross are among the lineup at Riyadh comedy festival, which finishes on 9 October.
“There’s a woman who’s a lesbian and Jewish, who did a show there, and she got a standing ovation,” CK said, referring to Jessica Kirson, who has expressed “sincere regret” for performing at the festival.
“So, there’s stuff going on that’s unexpected in this thing,” CK continued. “People have been playing Saudi Arabia for years. Comedians have been going and playing Arab countries. There was a film festival there recently, it’s kind of opened up. But I’ve always said no to Arab countries.”
CK said he was told there would only be two restrictions on what he could talk about on stage: “Their religion and their government.”
“I don’t have jokes about those two things,” he added. “It used to be when I got offers from places like that, there would be a long list, and I’d just say, ‘No, I don’t need that.’ But when I heard it’s opening, I thought, that’s awfully interesting. That just feels like a good opportunity. And I just feel like comedy is a great way to get in and start talking.”
Several comedians have questioned the ethics of performing comedy at a festival directly paid for by the Saudi Arabian government, which is notorious for human rights abuses and censorship, and its oppression of journalists, women and LGBTQ rights.
The festival’s producers include Sela, a live events company owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund; and the kingdom’s General Entertainment Authority, which is chaired by Turki al-Sheikh, a royal adviser dogged by allegations of human rights violations, including the detention of people who criticise him on social media.
Human Rights Watch argued the festival was an effort by the Saudi government to whitewash its actions “amid significant increase in repression including a crackdown on free speech, which many of these comedians defend but people in Saudi Arabia are completely denied”.
Comedians including Marc Maron, Atsuko Okatsuka and David Cross have been scathing of performers who have complained about cancel culture and censorship in the past for agreeing to take part in Riyadh, with Cross publishing a blistering statement on his website that called out CK by name.
“Clearly you guys don’t give a shit about what the rest of us think, but how can any of us take any of you seriously ever again?” Cross wrote. “All of your bitching about ‘cancel culture’ and ‘freedom of speech’ and all that shit? Done. You don’t get to talk about it ever again. By now we’ve all seen the contract you had to sign.”
CK acknowledged the criticism on Maher’s show.
“I had mixed feelings about it too,” he said. “I struggled about going once I heard what everybody was saying. There’s some good in it, maybe some bad in it. But for me, I think it cuts toward going. That’s my decision, and I know where it’s coming from, because I can see right inside myself.”
He added: “I love standup comedy, and I love comedians. So, the fact that that’s opening up and starting to bud, I wanna see it, I wanna be part of it. I think that’s a positive thing.”
Kirson, who performed at the Riyadh festival on 29 September, told the Hollywood Reporter on Friday that she had asked for a guarantee that she could talk about being a lesbian on stage, saying she “hoped that this could help LGBTQ+ people in Saudi Arabia feel seen and valued … to my knowledge, I am the first openly gay comic to talk about it on stage in Saudi Arabia”.
But she added: “At the same time, I deeply regret participating under the auspices of the Saudi government.” She apologised to fans who were disappointed by “a poor decision that had repercussions I didn’t fully consider” and said she would donate her fee to a human rights organisation.
Burr, who performed in Riyadh on 26 September, defended his choice to take part, calling it “a mind-blowing experience”.
“It was great to experience that part of the world and to be a part of the first comedy festival over there in Saudi Arabia,” Burr said on an episode of his Monday Morning Podcast.
“The royals loved the show. Everyone was happy. The people that were doing the festival were thrilled. The comedians that I’ve been talking to are saying, ‘Dude, you can feel [the audience] wanted it. They want to see real standup comedy.’ …
“I think it’s going to lead to a lot of positive things.”
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