Bill Burr defended his decision to perform at the Riyadh Comedy Festival after receiving backlash online and from fellow comedians.
On his “Monday Morning Podcast,” Burr went into detail on why he wanted to perform at the festival. He said that the inaugural Saudi Arabia festival could be the first step that could “lead to a lot of positive things.”
“It was great to experience that part of the world and to be a part of the first comedy festival over there in Saudi Arabia,” Burr said. “The royals loved the show. Everyone was happy. The people that were doing the festival were thrilled. The comedians that I’ve been talking to are saying, ‘Dude, you can feel [the audience] wanted it. They want to see real stand-up comedy.’ It was a mind-blowing experience. Definitely top three experiences I’ve had. I think it’s going to lead to a lot of positive things.”
He added: “You think everybody’s going to be screaming ‘death to America’ and they’re going to have like fucking machetes and want to like chop my head off, right? Because this is what I’ve been fed about that part of the world. I thought this place was going to be really tense. And I’m thinking like: ‘Is that a Starbucks next to a Pizza Hut next to a Burger King next to McDonald’s? They got a f–king Chili’s over here!’”
While Burr may be defending his choice to perform at the festival, other comedians vocally decried the decision. Michelle Wolf was asked and turned down the show because it was only a few days after she was having a baby – although that was not the only reason she said no.
Wolf said she “definitely would’ve been Khashoggi’d — and by that I mean murdered by the government” (a nod to Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was assassinated in 2018 at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul). “But for some reason without even trying, I just keep thinking of all these jokes I would’ve told in Saudi. It certainly would’ve been my last ever performance, I think.”
David Cross also did not hold back slamming many of his former comedy heroes for choosing to perform in Saudi Arabia.
“We can never again take seriously anything these comedians complain about (unless it’s complaining that we don’t support enough torture and mass executions of journalists and LGBQT peace activists here in the states, or that we don’t terrorize enough Americans by flying planes into our buildings),” Cross wrote. “I mean that’s it; you have a funny bit about how you don’t like Yankee Candles or airport lounges? Okay great, but you’re cool with murder and/or the public caning of women who were raped, and by having the audacity to be raped, were guilty of ‘engaging in adultery’? Got any bits on that?”
He continued: “These are some of my HEROES! Now look, some of you folks don’t stand for anything so you don’t have any credibility to lose, but my god, Dave and Louie and Bill, and Jim? Clearly you guys don’t give a s–t about what the rest of us think, but how can any of us take any of you seriously ever again? All of your bitching about ‘cancel culture’ and ‘freedom of speech’ and all that s–t? Done. You don’t get to talk about it ever again. By now we’ve all seen the contract you had to sign.”
