Several U.S. comedians are blasting the star-studded Riyadh Comedy Festival over Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses. <\/p>\n
The festival<\/a>, which kicked off on Friday, features prominent stand-up comedians, including Bill Burr, Dave Chappelle and others. But, the event has drawn blowback from other comedians and Human Rights Watch, which said this week that Riyadh is using the occasion to \u201cdeflect attention from its brutal repression of free speech and other pervasive human rights violations.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cParticipating comedians, to avoid contributing to laundering the Saudi government\u2019s reputation, should use the comedy festival to publicly urge Saudi authorities to free unjustly detained Saudi dissidents, journalists and human rights activists,\u201d Human Rights Watch said<\/a> in a press release on Tuesday. <\/p>\n Comedians, including Marc Maron, called out the event, referencing Saudi Arabia\u2019s alleged role in the 9\/11 terrorist attacks and the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. <\/p>\n \u201cI mean, how do you even promote that? \u2018From the folks that brought you 9\/11. Two weeks of laughter in the desert, don\u2019t miss it.’ I mean, the same guy that\u2019s gonna pay them is the same guy that paid that guy to bone-saw Jamal Khashoggi and put him in a f—— suitcase,\u201d Maron said<\/a> during a recent performance. \u201cBut don\u2019t let that stop the yucks, it\u2019s gonna be a good time!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFull disclosure: I was not asked to perform at the Riyadh Comedy Festival, so it\u2019s kind of easy for me to take the high road on this one,\u201d he added. \u201cEasy to maintain your integrity when no one\u2019s offering to buy it out.\u201d<\/p>\n Stand-up comedian Shane Gillis revealed that he turned down the invitation to perform at the festival, which is slated to go until Oct. 9. Gillis added that the Saudi officials \u201cdoubled the bag.\u201d <\/p>\n