Jimmy Kimmel grilled comedian Aziz Ansari over his involvement in the controversial Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia.
The state-sponsored festival, which also featured fellow standups Dave Chappelle and Bill Burr, has drawn criticism due to the Saudi Arabian government’s alleged human rights abuses, as well as accusations around its involvement in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
Appearing on the October 7 edition of Jimmy Kimmel Live, Ansari was faced with questions from the host about performing. “This is something that’s become a big part of the news because people, a lot of comedians especially, are very upset, because the people who paid the comedians to come to this are not good people” he said.
“It’s a pretty brutal regime. They’ve done a lot of horrible, horrible things. People are questioning why you would go over there and take their money to perform in front of these people. I’m curious as to why you decided to do that.”
Ansari said it was “something I put a lot of thought into,” arguing: “There’s people over there that don’t agree with the stuff that the government’s doing, and to ascribe like the worst behaviour of the government onto those people, that’s not fair. Just like there’s people in America that don’t agree with the things the government is doing.”
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Kimmel agreed that “we’re doing horrible things over here” (in the United States), but argued the Saudi regime’s actions are more heinous. “They murdered a journalist. These are not good people over there,” he said, in reference to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
Ansari replied: “I was just there to do a show for the people,” before adding: “You kind of have to make a choice of whether you’re going to isolate or engage. For me, especially being me and looking the way I do and being from a Muslim background, it felt like something I should be a part of. And I hope it pushes things in a positive direction.”
Many stand up comedians have been critical of the festival, with Marc Maron asking: “I mean, how do you even promote that? You know, ‘from the folks that brought you 9/11, two weeks of laughter in the desert. Don’t miss it!’” Shane Gillis revealed he turned down a “significant bag” to appear, calling it “a principled stand.”
Bill Burr defended appearing, saying “it’s going to lead to a lot of positive things”, while Louis C.K. also called it “a good opportunity”. However, fellow performer Jessica Kirson apologised, saying: “I am deeply sorry to all the fans and followers I have hurt or disappointed.”
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