"Back in May, head of the Saudi Arabian Entertainment Authority Turki Al-Sheikh announced the country's plans to host a gigantic international comedy festival featuring the "best 50 stand-up comedians in the world." By all indications, the festival's organizers made a sincere attempt to deliver on this lofty promise, assembling a lineup of, if not the best comedians in the world, certainly the most famous. Four months later, the Riyadh Comedy Festival kicks off on Friday, September 26; it will run through October 10."
"Human Rights Watch, a nonprofit organization that monitors human-rights standards all over the world, has accused comedians performing at the festival of being complicit in deflecting attention from Saudi Arabia's "brutal repression of free speech and other pervasive human rights violations." The timing of the festival, the org points out, coincides with the seventh anniversary of the state-sponsored death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi."
Turki Al-Sheikh announced plans in May for a massive international comedy festival claiming to feature the "best 50 stand-up comedians in the world." The Riyadh Comedy Festival runs September 26 through October 10 and assembles many high-profile names including Dave Chappelle, Kevin Hart, Bill Burr, Gabriel Iglesias, Aziz Ansari, Louis C.K., Andrew Schulz, Pete Davidson, Tom Segura, Chris Tucker, and Whitney Cummings. Human Rights Watch accuses participating comedians of being complicit in deflecting attention from Saudi Arabia's "brutal repression of free speech and other pervasive human rights violations." The festival coincides with the seventh anniversary of Jamal Khashoggi's killing and occurs amid a reported surge in 2025 executions, prompting public controversy.
Read at Vulture
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