{"id":183918,"date":"2025-10-02T01:38:06","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T01:38:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/183918\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T01:38:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T01:38:06","slug":"bill-burr-defends-riyadh-comedy-festival-appearance-amid-backlash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/183918\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill Burr Defends Riyadh Comedy Festival Appearance Amid Backlash"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tAmid rising backlash from fellow comedians and human rights advocates, Bill Burr<\/a> is defending his appearance at the Riyadh Comedy Festival<\/a>, calling it \u201cone of the top three experiences I\u2019ve had\u201d and \u201cmind blowing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt was great to experience that part of the world and to be a part of the first comedy festival over there in Saudi Arabia,\u201d Burr said on the Sept. 29 episode of his \u201cMonday Morning Podcast<\/a>.\u201d \u201cThe royals loved the show. Everyone was happy. The people that were doing the festival were thrilled.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDuring the episode, Burr talks about arriving in Riyadh with apprehension due to the years of negative portrayals in Western media. \u201cYou think everybody\u2019s going to be screaming \u2018Death to America\u2019 and they\u2019re going to have like fucking machetes and want to chop my head off,\u201d Burr said. \u201cBecause this is what I\u2019ve been fed about that part of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHis biggest surprise, came from the restaurants available and from the audience itself, which he described as young, diverse and eager to engage with stand-up comedy.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIs that a Starbucks next to a Pizza Hut next to a Burger King next to a McDonald\u2019s? They got a fucking Chili\u2019s over here!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe continued: \u201cI had to stop a couple times during the show and say, \u2018I\u2019ll be honest with you guys, I cannot fucking believe any of you have any idea who I am,\u2019\u201d Burr said. \u201cIt was just this great exchange of energy. They know their reputation. So they were extra friendly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFellow comedian Atsuko Okatsuka said she previously declined an invitation to perform, sharing excerpts from a contract that included bans on political, religious and LGBTQ+ content. Burr acknowledged those original restrictions but claims they were loosened after artists pushed back.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe organizers were told, \u2018If you want some good comedians, this isn\u2019t going to work,\u2019\u201d Burr explained. \u201cTo their credit, they said, \u2018All right, what do we got to do?\u2019 And they negotiated it all the way down to just a couple things: don\u2019t make fun of royals or religion.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to Burr, he was able to perform most of his regular act with only minor adjustments.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn one tense moment, he recalls beginning a joke about sex, only to see a couple get up and leave.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018Oh fuck. Am I in trouble?\u2019\u201d Burr recalled. \u201cBut they came back a few minutes later, and afterward, security told me, \u2018You\u2019re fine. All that stuff is allowed here.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBut not everyone is convinced.<\/p>\n

\n\tOn Monday, comedian David Cross released a scathing public statement<\/a> blasting performers who agreed to take the stage in Riyadh.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI am disgusted and deeply disappointed in this whole gross thing,\u201d Cross wrote. \u201cThat people I admire\u2026would condone this totalitarian fiefdom for\u2026 what, a fourth house? A boat? More sneakers?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCross singled out Burr, Dave Chappelle, and Louis C.K., arguing they had forfeited the right to complain about censorship or \u201ccancel culture\u201d in the U.S.<\/p>\n

\n\tOther comics such as Marc Maron and Shane Gillis have also publicly condemned the festival<\/a>, along with Human Rights Watch calling the festival part of the Saudi government\u2019s long-running \u201cwhitewashing\u201d campaign on an interview with CBS News.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Riyadh Comedy Festival, which runs through mid-October, is the latest effort by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman\u2019s Vision 2030 initiative to modernize and diversify Saudi Arabia\u2019s economy through entertainment and tourism. In addition to Burr, the lineup includes Kevin Hart, Aziz Ansari, Whitney Cummings, Pete Davidson, Gabriel Iglesias and others. The festival\u2019s ties to Saudi Arabia\u2019s controversial Minister of Entertainment, Turki Al-Sheikh, and the kingdom\u2019s broader human rights record \u2014 including the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, alleged ties to the 9\/11 attacks, and repression of LGBTQ+ individuals and political dissidents \u2014 continue to cast a shadow over the event.<\/p>\n

\n\tDespite the criticism, Burr remained unapologetic on the episode. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cPeople are cool. Governments are the problem,\u201d Burr said. \u201cEvery time I travel, I learn the same thing. And the people I met there? They just wanted to laugh. And they fucking did.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Amid rising backlash from fellow comedians and human rights advocates, Bill Burr is defending his appearance at the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":183919,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[47633,49,48,75,90968],"class_list":{"0":"post-183918","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-bill-burr","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-riyadh-comedy-festival"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183918"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183918\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}