The inaugural Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia is generating a lot of controversy within the stand-up world. While some comedians such as Shane Gillis, Marc Maron and Mike Birbiglia rejected appearing due to the country’s history of human rights issues and abuses (to say the least), some of the field’s biggest names are still collecting that check…And David Cross doesn’t find it funny one bit.
David Cross took to social media this week to lambast any comedian – even his close friends – over their participation in the Riyadh Comedy Festival. As he posted on Instagram, “I am disgusted, and deeply disappointed in this whole gross thing. That people I admire, with unarguable talent, would condone this totalitarian fiefdom for…what, a fourth house? A boat? More sneakers? We can never again take seriously anything these comedians complain about (unless it’s complaining that we don’t support enough torture and mass executions of journalists and LGBQT peace activists here in the states, or that we don’t terrorize enough Americans by flying planes into our buildings).”
Cross also specifically called out what he called some of his comedy heroes, name-checking Dave Chappelle, Louis CK, Bill Burr, and Jimmy Carr. “Clearly you guys don’t give a sh*t about what the rest of us think, but how can any of us take any of you seriously ever again? 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.” Cross would start to wrap up his post by calling out each and every comedian participating in the Riyadh Comedy Festival. Other notable names taking the stage at the Riyadh Comedy Festival include Pete Davidson, Jeff Ross, Gabriel Iglesias, Tom Segura, and Sebastian Maniscalco.
Burr, whose fans have been spamming on social media asking him to step down (it’s too late – his performance already happened), defended his participation on his podcast (excerpted by THR), saying: “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…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.”
Virtually every form of entertainment that has developed ties with Saudi Arabia has faced backlash, from the WWE establishing ties over a decade ago (and holding an annual event, Crown Jewel, in Riyadh) to its funding of LIV Golf, with major names like Phil Mickelsen and Bubba Watson signing on.
What do you think? Should comedians, athletes and entertainers perform wherever they want? Or are there other moral obligations that should come into play?