Bill Burr Fires Back at Critics of His Riyadh Comedy Fest Appearance

Conan O’Brien and the crew from his SiriusXM podcast took over Hollywood’s Fonda Theatre on Sunday night for a special live recording of Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend. After an introductory segment featuring co-hosts Sona Movsesian and Matt Gourley, the Fonda’s lights dimmed as O’Brien readied to reveal his surprise guest — Bill Burr.

“Hi, I’m Bill Burr and I feel wonderful about being Conan O’Brien’s friend,” said the veteran actor-comedian from a podium to rousing applause from the capacity crowd, which included The Hollywood Reporter. But he wasn’t exactly feeling wonderful about the week he’d had. “It’s been fucking fantastic,” he quipped after taking a seat. “Jesus Christ.”

O’Brien was quick to note that his longtime friend and frequent guest had “been in the news” that week, an observation that likely did not come as a surprise to anyone in the room. Burr was among the 50 or so high-profile comedians who traveled to Saudi Arabia for the Riyadh Comedy Festival. Taking place from Sept. 26 to Oct. 9, the event welcomed a who’s who to the country for stand-up sets, a roster that included Dave Chappelle, Louis C.K., Kevin Hart, Pete Davidson, Whitney Cummings, Andrew Schulz, Aziz Ansari, Jim Jefferies, Jo Koy, Sebastian Maniscalco, Mark Normand, Tom Segura, Bobby Lee, Jeff Ross and more.

It caused a firestorm of controversy as word spread of its lineup, leading people like Marc Maron, David Cross and Atsuko Okatsuka to speak out against it, given the kingdom’s history of oppression and human rights abuses. Burr was quick to counter the criticism on his podcast — the episode dropped Sept. 30 as the online heat was still boiling — by saying what a great experience it was for him to travel to Saudi Arabia and perform in both Bahrain and Riyadh.

“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 stand-up comedy.’ It was a mind-blowing experience. Definitely top three experiences I’ve had. I think it’s going to lead to a lot of positive things,” he said.

Burr’s tone had changed by Sunday night as he unleashed on his critics with a barrage of expletives, slamming the online outrage as being stirred up and inflamed by bots and reiterating that the festival itself was a sign of forward progress for the Middle East.

“The general consensus is, ‘How dare you go to that place and make those oppressed people laugh, you fucking piece of shit. I can’t believe you went to that place. I can’t find it on a map, and this bot said I was upset about it so now I am,” Burr said in recapping the outrage. “It’s one thing to wear clothes made by sweatshop labor. It’s quite another to go to the factory and make ’em laugh. I can’t believe how much anger I had about this issue after it went viral.”

To that, O’Brien joked, “So, you’re here to apologize.” Spoiler alert: He did not apologize. If anything, he delivered a warning that recent events in the United States have indicated “we’re moving towards them.” “Jesus Christ, we’re fucking grabbing moms and dads and sticking ’em in a van for making illegally made fucking tacos to go to alligator Alcatraz,” Burr said of the ICE raids. “It’s fucking insane. It’s insane. And someday they’re gonna be out of brown people to put in those vans, they’re still gonna have the vans, so you shouldn’t be feeling comfortable about it. Thinking that you’re not gonna be in it.”

He continued by noting that he was one of the comedians who got “the most amount of shit” about his appearance from other comedians whom he declined to name. “All of these sanctimonious cunts out there…who don’t really sincerely give a shit,” he said. “If you actually give a fuck about those people and how they’re living over there, there’s gonna have to be these types of things to pull them in. And I will tell you, the Cheesecake Factory in Riyadh, it’s incredible. It’s right next to Pizza Hut and KFC, and if you want a pair of Timberlands, it’s across the street next to the Marriott, catty-corner to the fucking Hilton.”

Though he didn’t mention her by name, Burr gave a nice shout-out to fellow comedian Jessica Kirson, who was on the Riyadh Comedy Festival bill. “Openly gay, went over there and just did her fucking act. And she was in the middle of her act and two of the diplomats got up and she said to them, ‘What are you guys going to go get on Grindr?’” Burr detailed. “Dude, 33 years of comedy, that’s the biggest balls of anyone I’ve ever seen.” But then she received backlash from “hardcore psycho gays,” Burr said, adding, “Fucking lunatics, man.” After the outrage, Kirson apologized in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter and revealed she would be donating her fee to a human rights organization.

Burr said he had “no fucking idea” the festival would inspire such controversy from people that aren’t able to locate Saudi Arabia on a map. “One time I did Abu Dhabi and somebody [texted me], ‘Oh, you’re going over there to get that blood money, right?’ And I go, ‘Hey, just for the record, I’m also doing London, England on that tour, which is arguably the bloodiest fucking money out there,’” he said.

He stated that he doesn’t “give a fuck what all these phony fucking people are saying,” nor does he care if his appearance negatively impacts his career. “I really don’t give a fuck Conan, and if it affects my career, I’ve been to LAX enough in my life, I’ll fucking sit home for a little bit. I will actually tell you LAX is slightly sadder than Saudi Arabia.”

But he did say that while the outrage was exploding, he never heard from his agent. “I’ve been going through this bullshit the whole week. My agent never even called me. He’s been under his fucking desk,” he joked. “He heard me on the podcast, saying what I said here, that I had a good time and it was a positive thing so he thought that was the mindset that I was in through the week.”

He was in contact with his tour manager, who shared with him some of the feedback he was getting. “One of my favorite things is this scumbag club owner texted my tour manager because he heard I was over there [in Saudi Arabia]. He goes, ‘Bring back a burka and a sweatshirt in size oppression.’ That was his joke. So I wrote back to him, ‘Why don’t you concentrate on not ripping off comedians? You fucking piece of shit.’ And he never wrote back,” Burr said.

In closing, Burr said that events like the Riyadh Comedy Festival “have to happen” in order to push progress forward. “It was necessary. It felt right afterward,” he said. “I vibed with them and they were funny. Fuck, they were funny fucking people. I don’t know what to tell you. I had a good time.” And he had a good friend in O’Brien. “I love doing the podcast, man, and I appreciate you having me on, especially during all of this bullshit. You are a real friend, dude.”

The live episode is out now for SiriusXM Podcasts+ subscribers and will be available widely on Oct. 15.