Celebs
Bill Burr was among several high-profile comedians who traveled to Saudi Arabia to perform at the Riyadh Comedy Festival, including Kevin Hart, Dave Chappelle, Louis C.K., and Pete Davidson.
Bill Burr is pushing back against criticism from fans and fellow comedians for his decision to perform at the Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia.
The Canton native was one of more than 30 comedians booked to perform at the festival, which runs from September 25 to October 8, including Kevin Hart, Dave Chappelle, Louis C.K., and Pete Davidson.
Despite strong criticism from comedians and human rights activists, Burr called the festival “mind blowing” and “one of the top three experiences I’ve had” during the Sept. 29 episode of his “Monday Morning Podcast.”
“You think everybody’s going to be screaming ‘Death to America’ and they’re going to have like f****** machetes and want to chop my head off,” Burr said. “Because this is what I’ve been fed about that part of the world.”
Instead, Burr said, he received a friendly reception, and was surprised by how American the city felt.
“Is that a Starbucks next to a Pizza Hut next to a Burger King next to a McDonald’s?,” Burr joked. “They got a f****** Chili’s over here!”
Riyadh Comedy Festival criticism
In the lead-up to the festival, critics cited a litany of reasons for comedians to back out of the gig, including Saudi Arabia’s alleged ties to the September 11 attacks, the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the country’s repression of LGBTQ individuals, and a laundry list of human rights abuses.
Several comedians, including Shane Gillis, publicly shared that they had turned down invitations to the festival.
“I took a principled stand,” Gillis said on his podcast. “You don’t 9/11 your friends.”
Comedian Atsuko Okatsuka shared an excerpt of the contract that comedians signed ahead of the festival, which prohibits material that might “degrade, defame, or bring into public disrepute” the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Saudi royal family, and any religion, among other topics.
“The money is coming straight from the Crown Prince, who actively executes journalists, [people] with nonlethal drug offenses, bloggers, etc. without due process,” Okatsuka wrote. “A lot of the ‘you can’t say anything anymore!’ comedians are doing the festival. They had to adhere to censorship rules about the types of jokes they can make.”
Comedian David Cross called out Burr specifically, with the “Arrested Development” star noting that he previously counted Burr, C.K., and Chappelle among his personal heroes.
“Clearly you guys don’t give a s*** about what the rest of us think, but how can any of us take any of you seriously ever again?,” Cross wrote on his website. “All of your bitching about “cancel culture” and “freedom of speech” and all that s***? Done. You don’t get to talk about it ever again.
“By now we’ve all seen the contract you had to sign,” Cross continued. “You’re performing for literally, the most oppressive regime on earth. They have SLAVES for f***’s sake!!!”
‘They just wanted to laugh’
Despite the overwhelming criticism, including from Burr’s own peers, the comedian defended his participation in the Riyadh Comedy Festival.
Burr stated that he and fellow comedians “pushed back” on some of the festival’s restrictions, and ultimately signed a less restrictive agreement.
“The organizers were told, ‘If you want some good comedians, this isn’t going to work,’” Burr said. “To their credit, they said, ‘All right, what do we got to do?’ And they negotiated it all the way down to just a couple things: don’t make fun of royals or religion.”
Burr also said that regardless of the political differences between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, at the end of the day, an audience is an audience.
“People are cool. Governments are the problem,” Burr said. “Every time I travel, I learn the same thing. And the people I met there? They just wanted to laugh. And they f****** did.”
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