As Saudi Arabia’s star-studded debut comedy festival prepares to kick off this weekend, Marc Maron is one of several comedians to call out the event.
The WTF podcast host recently put his comedian peers on blast for participating in the Riyadh Comedy Festival as he joked about Saudi officials’ roles in 9/11 and the 2018 assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
“I mean, how do you even promote that? ‘From the folks that brought you 9/11. Two weeks of laughter in the desert, don’t miss it!’” he said in a video from a recent stand-up bit. “I mean, the same guy that’s gonna pay them is the same guy that paid that guy to bone-saw Jamal Khashoggi and put him in a fucking suitcase. But don’t let that stop the yucks, it’s gonna be a good time!”
Maron continued, “Full disclosure: I was not asked to perform at the Riyadh Comedy Festival, so it’s kind of easy for me to take the high road on this one. Easy to maintain your integrity when no one’s offering to buy it out.”
Fellow comedian Shane Gillis also said on his Secret Podcast that he turned down a “significant bag” for an appearance at the festival, even after they doubled their offer. “I took a principled stand. You don’t 9/11 your friends,” he said.
Zach Woods also joked on Instagram about “that special time of year” marking the comedy festival, as he filmed a sarcastic promo, calling attention to Saudi minister of entertainment, Turki Al-Sheikh’s human rights abuses.
“Now there’s a lot drips, killjoys and dweebazoids who say, ‘They shouldn’t do comedy over there because they’re whitewashing a regime that, just in June, killed a journalist, and killed Jamal Khashoggi, and played a big role in 9/11.’ Shut up! Name one comedian who hasn’t whored themself out to a dictator,” said Woods.
Since Deadline exclusively announced the initial lineup in July, the Riyadh Comedy Festival has grown to include Kevin Hart, Aziz Ansari, Hannibal Buress, Bill Burr, Dave Chappelle, Louis C.K., Whitney Cummings, Pete Davidson, Zarna Garg, Gabriel Iglesias, Jim Jefferies, Jo Koy, Bobby Lee, Jeff Ross, Andrew Santino, Tom Segura, Chris Tucker and more.
