Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Comedy Festival sparked outrage this week, with several U.S. comedians criticizing the high-profile event and Human Rights Watch condemning the festival while urging performers like Pete Davidson and Bill Burr to “publicly urge Saudi authorities to free unjustly detained Saudi dissidents, journalists and human rights activists.”
“The seventh anniversary of Jamal Khashoggi’s brutal murder is no laughing matter, and comedians receiving hefty sums from Saudi authorities shouldn’t stay silent on prohibited issues like human rights or free speech,” Joey Shea, a Saudi Arabia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a Sept. 23 statement. “Everyone performing in Riyadh should use this platform to demand the release of detained activists.”
The lineup for the Sept. 26–Oct. 9 festival Saudi Arabian festival includes, among others: Burr, Davidson, Aziz Ansari, Hannibal Buress, Jimmy Carr, Dave Chappelle, Maz Jobrani, Sam Morril, Mark Normand, Nimesh Patel and Tom Segura.
Davidson defended his decision to perform in a Sept. 23 interview on Theo Von’s “This Past Weekend” podcast and said that he’s heard of “subreddits of, ‘I think all these people are in bed with (the Saudi royal family).’”
“I just, I get the routing and then I see the number and I go, ‘I’ll go,’” Davidson said as he explained his reasoning for going. “I’ve been getting a little bit of of flack just ’cause my dad died in 9/11. So they’re like, ‘How could you possibly go there?’”
Many U.S. comedians have spoken out against the controversial event. Marc Maron blasted fellow comedy heavyweights who signed on to the Riyadh festival during a stand-up set earlier this week, citing Saudi officials’ alleged ties to 9/11 and the 2018 assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
“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. “I mean, the same guy that’s gonna pay them is the same guy that paid that guy to bone-saw Jamal Khashoggi and put him in a f–king suitcase. But don’t let that stop the yucks, it’s gonna be a good time!”
On Friday, comedian Atsuko Okatsuka also slammed the festival sharing an offer letter that was sent to her which included censorship rules. The content restrictions included any material that would “defame” or “degrade” the Saudi royal family, legal system or government in any way.
“The money is coming straight from the crown prince, who actively executes journalists,” Okatsuka shared in a social media post condemning the offer.
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 pic.twitter.com/QP34xoi3QG
— Atsuko Okatsuka (@AtsukoComedy) September 26, 2025
Shane Gillis also said earlier this week that he was approached to perform but declined the offer because he said he didn’t agree with the alleged ties to 9/11 terrorist attack funding. According to the comedian, after he said no, the festival “doubled” his original offer.
“It was a significant bag,” Gillis told Matt McCusker on their “Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast.” “But I had already said no, I took a principled stand.”
According to Human Rights Watch, on Sept. 19 the organization “wrote to the representatives and management of a group of announced participating comedians to request a meeting about Saudi Arabia’s human rights crisis.” They received no response.
On Sept. 20, Tim Dillon, who was set to attend, said his performance was canceled because the Saudi authorities were allegedly “unhappy” about comedic remarks he had made regarding the treatment of migrant workers.
Human Rights Watch cited that many comedians performing at the festival have made public statements about the importance of free expression that “contrasts sharply with the Saudi authorities’ brutal crackdown on any criticism of the government.”
“Comedians performing in Riyadh should speak out against Saudi Arabia’s serious rights abuses or they risk bolstering the Saudi government’s well-funded efforts to launder its image.” Shea concluded. “This whitewashing comes 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.”
