Whitney Cummings is speaking out on the criticism of those who performed at Saudi Arabia’s debut Riyadh Comedy Festival.
Cummings defended her performance at the festival and those of others on her “Good for You” podcast Monday.
“It’s just racism,” she said of the criticism. “I think it took me a second, because when people are going like, ‘You’re doing something unethical,’ I’m like, ‘Oh, these must be ethical people, let me listen.’ And then you’re like, ‘Oh no, you’re just racist.’”
She continued, “I guess I’m this weirdo,” she said. “I don’t operate under, you know, the idea that every government and their people are the same… You think that the people of Saudi Arabia and the Saudi government all [share the same values]? So you also believe that the Chinese government and the Chinese people are exactly the same? It’s just racism. I think it took me a second, because when people are going like, ‘You’re doing something unethical,’ I’m like, ‘Oh, these must be ethical people, let me listen.’ And then you’re like, ‘Oh no, you’re just racist.’ These are also the same people who would go, ‘Trump is not my president! I am nothing like our president.’ But other countries are?”
She also pointed out the hypocrisy of comedians who opposed the festival and of those who performed.
“When you get a sec, google ‘Saudi Arabia Live Nation’ so you can be informed on the fact that anyone who has worked with Live Nation, every stand-up comic, has taken Saudi money,” she said. “Or bought a ticket through Live Nation, went to a Live Nation event, all the actors who are represented by William Morris Agency, which is all of them. If you want to send them notes too.”
Aziz Ansari was among the A-list comedians who defended the controversial decision to perform at the fest and said he planned to donate a portion of his fee to organizations like Reporters Without Borders and Human Rights Watch.
Other comedians who performed at the fest, which ran from Sept. 26 to Oct. 9, include Bill Burr, Dave Chappelle, Louis C.K., Kevin Hart, Pete Davidson and Andrew Schulz, among others.
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