US comedians defend decision to play in Saudi Arabia: ‘They’re paying me enough to look the other way’
US comedians defend decision to play in Saudi Arabia: ‘They’re paying me enough to look the other way’
"...He did not address the criticism directly, but he did suggest he was happy to forget 9/11 for the right price: “I just know I get the routing, and then I see the number, and I go, ‘I’ll go.’” "
Apparently $375,000 is enough for Pete Davidson to piss on his fathers memory
I guess for most people it would be. Certainly I’d be like “sorry dad but I can buy a house an have my future be much more secure” if my kid did the same I’d like to think I’d understand as well…but this is for normal people. To these very well known and well off comedians is 375k that much? It’s like the equivalent of me getting like 5k which I’m not sure I would betray my morals for. Having said that nobody’s offering me 5k to!
He's now working for his parent's murderer.
It pays well...well it pays.
The lineup features Dave Chappelle, Louis CK, Bill Burr, Kevin Hart, Whitney Cummings, Pete Davidson, Aziz Ansari and Jo Koy, among many others who are all taking their fees directly from the Saudi government.
Burr being on that list surprises me, but it said he’s also been to UAE. Davidson is pissing on his father’s grave.
They have also taken flak from their peers. “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,” said Marc Maron in a standup clip posted on his Facebook.
Exactly.
Greedy fucks, all of them.
I used to love standup comedy. These days I feel as though so much of the mainstream comedy scene is made up of immature losers who peaked in highschool. Joe Rogan, Bert Kreisher, Bobby Lee, Chris Distefano... I cannot stand these guys. The list goes on.
I thought Bill Burr was different. I'm really disappointed.
burr at least spoke out against the billionaire class....
but then he took the fucking bonesaw money. fuck.
Should we start calling him Bonesaw Bill or Bonesaw Burr.
Yeah, I never really cared for his vibe as a comedian until that part happened and then he decided to do this like a month or two later so I'll go back to not caring about his shit again. I do hope people keep giving him shit for it until he stops showing his face though.
That freckled fuck is dead to me. He has gone against all he has said om his podcast and then doubled down. What a fucking tool.
Just shows he was only speaking out because he thought he would make money from it, not because of any ethical principles.
Wait, what's the bonesaw money?
Taylor Tomlinson popped up on my feeds and it's a fresh breath. Gianmarco Soresi did as well, but I doubt I'll watch his special
Taylor's, though, I'd go see that live, and I'm not somebody to go to comedy clubs
I really hope he grows and shows some real contrition about it. It would take time to convince me, but I really hope he just didn’t think it through. Such a bummer.
Sadly, my prediction is that he'll use his classic "I'm dumb, I don't read the news" line as an excuse, and then go back to trashing billionaires as early as next week.
I don't give a shit if he grows or not, I'm done with him. I saw what he did.
Choke on your blood money, bill burka.
In my fantasy world, these comedians are currently in conference calls working on material to fry the Saudis together.
Obviously they'd execute the first one that did it, but I like to dream
Bill Burr is different in many ways but the clip of him screaming "fagot" at the crowd was a clue that he's no ethical paragon
Standup was a thing in the 80s. I feel like even by the 90s it was already dying. There were a few unique acts like Mitch Hedberg for example, but the format itself is kind of no longer relevant.
Excuse me say what? This news had me thinking yesterday about how many solid comedians there are now vs. back in the day. In the 80s, we could name most popular comedians. "Ever heard of this Eddie Murphy guy?"
Now? The list is enormous, and filled with hard hitters. I can spend all night on YouTube only watching the most popular, barely scratching the surface.
I appreciate this take. It's interesting to think about - I have often felt alienated because I often don't enjoy standup - neither from the classics nor the modern comedians.
Honestly think a big part of it was cable tv and premium channels becoming big and needing unique content, which led to comedy specials and shows.
The lack of comedy venues in most places except big cities around the US.
The ability to play uncensored shows and filmed comedy performances made for great late night TV for HBO and Showtime.
I think by the late 90’s- 2000’s the internet had stolen some of the spotlight and there were more comedy coming from improv groups and standup that landed TV deals. So that’s how we ended up with Reno 911, and shows like Chepelle, and Key and Peele. This was during the time that Mind Of Mencia was on. Comedy Central did a lot by just giving standup their own sketch type 30-60 min shows on prime time.
I think a lot of the people in comedy these days have piloted from touring to doing things like live podcasts and whatnot. The straight standup routine isn’t seen nearly as much anymore. Plus a lot of content is just directed directly to YouTube and patreon channels because it’s easier and more profitable.
Don’t make celebrity performers your idols, folks. They’re mostly psychologically damaged, amoral, backstabbing, money grubbing narcissists.
People: Billionaires are the problem
Also people: OMG Taylor Swift's new album just dropped! Let's go buy 3 different versions of it
You don't get it, she's a good billionaire because she's a girl and owns her music. Who cares that she takes a private jet flight for what could be an hour long drive - she could never fly economy due her popularity!
I don't disagree with you, but this is isn't exactly "idol" level expectations, either. "Not selling out to horrific regimes" is basic decency I'd expect of everyone, not just those I look up to. Most of the names I see here make sense, but there are a few I expected to be better than this.
Comedians are probably the most disingenuous ones too, as idols. thier job is to Joke, and you know personally they are either what they joke about(they become the jokes themselves this default for right winger comedians they become thier own jokes, or doing the opposite of what they are joking.
Especially comedians… it’s a defense mechanism.
Jim Jefferies disappeared from the Riyadh festival lineup after he said on Theo Von’s podcast: ‘One reporter was killed by the Saudi] government – unfortunate, but not a fucking hill that I’m gonna die on.’
What a fucking loser. He threw his soul away AND lost the payday. Lose-lose fucking loser.
The rest is even more cringy
"arguing it is for the greater good that “freedom-of-speech machines” such as himself bestow their “edgy” material on the kingdom and its subjects."
It is one thing to sell your soul for money (or try anyways lol) but it is an entirely another level of loser quality to pretend like you are fighting for freedom while doing it.
chapelles reason was pretty obvious, hes a transphobe, that was mad when he cant say transphobic jokes, and SA allows him to be transphobic as much as he wants.
My thought about the whole thing was that if someone went there and, in spite of the agreement they signed, teed off on the Saudis and whatever else they were forbidden from discussing, I'd have had respect. Was honestly hoping that's what Burr was intending to do. I'd have donated to the GoFundMe for them to fight the inevitable lawsuit from the Saudis.
Obviously didn't happen. We live in a difficult world, and when presented with the choice between fighting (hard) and rolling over (easy), people take the obvious choice. I don't know if I'm doing it differently.
Are these sets even recorded and able to be viewed somewhere, or were they essentially private? If they're private, I dunno, I get it.
Comedians understanding that they're less significant of a form of free speech to society than a free and independent press is basically impossible for some reason.
I am really disappointed to see Bill Burr here. I'm not surprised to see Mark Norman and others who made a name for themselves by making jokes at others expense. They remind me of little kids in school picking on the fat kid or the new kid from another country.
I hate to bring this up, especially since SA kills people so openly, but the US's track record of committing terrorist acts, or supporting terrorism (South America) is terrible. We're currently supplying weapons to Israel that they use to kill children. That's going on right now, they've killed like 60,000 Palestinians, 20,000 children. If you weren't American would you be okay with comedians playing in a country with America's history?
I wouldn't boycott someone for performing here, but I think performers should boycott America.
If you weren't American would you be okay with comedians playing in a country with America's history?
The difference is comedians performing at Riyadh are paid by the Saudi government. Comedians performing in US are not paid by US government.
I haven’t been to the US since I had an already scheduled stopover shortly after Trump was elected (but before he was in office) the first time. Since then I’ve only taken flights that avoid US airspace.
Before that, I used to travel to the US regularly. I just don’t trust things to be both predictable and safe for foreigners anymore, since the current leaders have been very vocal that they consider the constitution to only apply to certain people.
im not surprised, he probably was an opportunist, all those other times he was supporting something "sjw"
Here's a full list:
Happy Boycott!
EDIT: Corrected and expanded now, based on the feedback and what seem to be Saudi websites in English.
Be sure to fact check before putting people on blast and ruining their reputation.
The following comedians were openly critical of those who took the gig. These comedians DID NOT go. Okatsuka specifically revealed the details of the contract these comedians had to sign. Woods made a scathing video that went viral criticizing the lineup.
Checked more than one outlet (apparently AI-written, since people like Maron are connected to it, but in a negative way) and came up with that conservative list.
I am also surprised there is no official website I can find.
Corrected and expanded now, based on the feedback and what seem to be Saudi websites in English.
Was gonna say, those exact names would be the people I expect to not go. Atsuko and Marc in particular would really surprise me.
Burr being on that list makes me angry. Come on man.
Shane Gillis and Atsuko Okatsuka turned the invitation down.
Atsuko has been outspoken about it and Shane said on his podcast he wouldn't work for the people who did 9/11.
Checked more than one outlet (apparently AI-written, since people like Maron are connected to it, but in a negative way) and came up with that conservative list.
I am also surprised there is no official website I can find.
Corrected and expanded now, based on the feedback and what seem to be Saudi websites in English.
Aziz Ansari? Goddamn it...
I guess he really is a little creep after all.
kinda figure, i heard he was total creep/freak with woman. much like some others on the list.
No not Bill Burr come on man.
It's been even worse since he got back and has been defending it. His supposed defenses make it so much worse for me.
That’s not accurate. Marc Maron criticized it heavily. Shane Gillis turned it down.
Checked more than one outlet (apparently AI-written, since people like Maron are connected to it, but in a negative way) and came up with that conservative list.
I am also surprised there is no official website I can find.
Corrected and expanded now, based on the feedback and what seem to be Saudi websites in English.
This list is fucking inaccurate. Nice job posting bullshit and muddying the waters.
Okatsuka turned the offer down, Patel changed his mind, and Maron not only wasn't asked but has been outspokenly against the entire thing for like a month
Do you even know what's being discussed lol
Checked more than one outlet (apparently AI-written) and came up with that conservative list.
I am also surprised there is no official website I can find.
Corrected and expanded now, based on the feedback and what seem to be Saudi websites in English.
Nimesh Patel backed out about a week before and didn't end up performing
Lol how did you come up with this list? It's incorrect...
Whew, I was worried! But that's an easy list to boycott. Never listened to any of them because they all sucked as comedians anyway.
C-list, tops.
‘They’re paying me enough to look the other way’
That is at least an honest approach instead of "We'll change things over there with our comedy".
Just stfu next time it's about politics (hint: they won't).
The only guy that is surprising for me is Bill Burr. Not exactly financially hanging on by a thread but still selling out like that.
Same, very surprised by Bill Burr and that it wasn't a bit for him to tell the Saudis some hard truths either.
Instead, he gives us a weak-ass "they are the same as us" response because they have the same crappy fast-food...
It's always about the money for these pricks.
Don't fool yourselves into thinking entertainers are your friends. They're not.
Mr. Rogers weeps.
We really got the worst era of comedy. Bunch of court jesters dancing for a king while the city burns
American comedy is become irredeemably lame. Though Jimmy Carr is on the list there too but at least him being a spineless removed is kinda his schtick
There are definitely exceptions. All of the comics mentioned here are people who peaked a decade or more ago, and most of them are extremely out of touch. There are a lot of more contemporary comics who are doing a great job. I don't see Josh Johnson or Ashley Gavin or Gianmarco Soresi or like the people on Dropout showing up to something like this. There's a whole generation of great comics, a lot of them coming out of UCB, who are funnier, wittier, and wiser than any of these clowns.
They were funded by these large groups and that isn't talked about enough. It wasn't just SA blood money they chased. They took it from hertiage foudation and other conservative groups. Most probably didn't even realize they were doing it. They'd just get booked through agents. It just happened that these agents were working with groups who probably paid for personality profiles of the lamest comedians who could benefit their cause if they were actually popular.
I'd like to hear if Carr has any additional reasoning than just money.
Super disappointed in Burr.
Unsubscribed.
I've been struggling to get a read on Burr since day one. He's always seemed to want it both ways. I'm glad he has decided to remove all ambiguity.
Can't believe bill burr went. Turns out all of his billionaire critics were just meaningless
Can absolutely believe Chapelle went.
He's become more Rick James than Rick James.
I would have been shocked if he hadn't.
They drove a dumptruck of money to his door, he's not made of stone.
But you have to wonder if these guys are just grabbing the silverware before political satire is banned by zee Republicans.
Everyone knows now he can be bought and swayed easily by money, since money talks.
"Make shit excuses" isn't really a definition of "defend."
To defend something, it should be defensible in the first place. Otherwise you're just failing while talking about how it was worth it, but with extra steps.
Literal blood money bruh
Marc Maron is the person who people think the lot of these guys like Burr are. His comedy/commentary is earnest. He has conviction. People like Burr are performative commentary. They go back to the dressing room to wash off the clown makeup so they can go back to being their private self. They don't give a shit about the things the say into the mic.
Burr is pretty genuine, and he's come a long way in the past 5-10 years (largely due to his awesome wife). However, he's still a "both sides" liberal when it comes down to it.
Maron is the real deal.
Inb4 they whine in their next comedy specials that they're 'being cancel cultured again by Gen Z' and this time its 'just for working'.
Cue laughs from conservatives.
Distefano, chatting with Halkias, joked that an upside to the kingdom’s repression of women is that his fiancee can’t come with him. Mark Normand, on the other hand, joked he would bring his wife to show her how good she has it in America: “I want to be like, ‘You see? You think I’m an asshole? Well, they’ll cut your clit off, removed.’”
Sounds like the right terrible people for that place. With any luck they would stay there.
Pete and Dave have been pieces of shit for a long time. Dave has been all downhill since those first few sets when he returned. Guy peaked with Chappel Show.
Likewise we're not paid enough to be their audience. Grifters, kindly fuck off the stage.
The title quote is from Tim Dillon, article has a similar quote from Pete Davidson
There's really no defense that is morally good in my opinion . F these people. At least they self identify as amoral assholes.
Not all
arguing it is for the greater good that “freedom-of-speech machines” such as himself bestow their “edgy” material on the kingdom and its subjects.
Yeah...
Let's make it cost them more to get their fans back.
Nice for these people to be so open about their shittiness, it removes the benefit of the doubt and makes it easier to weed them out
Fuck I miss Carlin
Better he doesn't have to see what the world has become. His internal disappointed idealist's heart would be thoroughly broken. I know mine has been.
These people are all willing to play shows in the US, why wouldn't you expect them to play in Saudi Arabia? Sounds like living in denial about our own country. Like the concept of blood diamonds; money from software made in the US has funded conflict all over the globe but no one called it blood software. We used to export soybeans and used the money to bomb foreigners and no one called em blood soybeans.
Moral failings are always some other countries problem, we're the shining city on the hill remember? /s
Playing a show in Saudi Arabia would be different than playing this show funded by the Saudi government. The shows played in America, for the most part, aren't funded by the government here. That's the difference. People gave the celebrities who performed at Trump's inauguration shit for it. That's consistent my guy.
Also the fact they were supporting something opposite of what Saudia arabia represents. aka, free speech, lgbtq+ rights,,,etc. something SA is against and they went and accepted the money.
We’re about to have a ufc fight on the White House lawn
Seems very similar to performing at the White House Correspondents Dinner
Saudi Arabia is an absolutist monarchy where the person in power is a monarch, so playing a show for the monarchy is playing a show for the people in power.
The USA is a capitalist country where the people in power are capitalist owners, so playing a show in a privately-owned venue is playing a show for the people in power.
There's a big difference between playing a show IN a country and playing a show FOR a country. We rightfully give people shit for performing for Trump at the White House but not for performing for a bunch of normal people in Los Angeles.
We're not great currently, but we are leaps and bounds better than Saudi Arabia right now.
Are you saying all entertainment folks in the US should just stop working? That is neither feasible or possible for non A-listers.
Edit: apparently some one is ok with already struggling artist starving. Hope you have the same energy when it's your turn to refuse work.
Edit 2: suck my cat's barbed dick.
Don't invent the scenarios, none of the comedians in questions are "starving".
\
these comedians arnt struggling lol, most of them are upper middle class or wealthy(millionaires.
We're not great currently, but we are leaps and bounds better than Saudi Arabia right now
No, you are not. You have fascist brigades roaming around terrorizing minorities, you have innocents being taken to illegal prisons, you have a worldwide media apparatus boosting fascism all over the world, 20% of male black US population goes through jail (where slave labour is legal) at some point of their lives, you are intervening in regime change and upholding fascist puppets like Milei or Bolsonaro, you start war after war after war, and last but not least, you're materially and diplomatically enabling the genocide of Palestinians by the fascist ethnostate of Isntreal. The US is not "leaps and bounds better than Saudi Arabia".
the kingdom’s General Entertainment Authority, chaired by Turki al-Sheikh, a royal adviser dogged by allegations of human rights violations, including the detention of people who criticize him on social media.
Sounds like fun.
Kinda goes with the “they should stay there” comments on here, doesn’t it?
I mean, put out an open call for political comedians, pay lavishly, let a few come and say whatever they want to provide an illusion of free speech, then have a comedy festival and lock up anyone who says anything critical about a political figure. Speech chilled, vocal critics removed from circulation. It’s a win-win for them.
Will people criticizing them stop to play all EA games that are owned now by Saudi Arabia?
I haven't bought an EA game since Mass Effect 3 so this a moot point for me.
Dragon Age Inquisition for me.
I have not bought one since fifa 08
It's a bit weird to me how hyperfocused gamers are on Saudi Arabia. No, they do not own EA, it's a joint venture between two other US investment firms;
Silver Lake Partners: A private equity firm focused on technology and media investments. Silver Lake is also part of the new Oracle-led joint venture set to take on management of TikTok's U.S. operations.
Affinity Partners: Led by Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, the firm is a participant in the buyout.
Why not focus on weirdly rich Trump's son-in-law? Knowing it's family, the thought of Trump family owning EA sounds worse than Saudi Arabia fund.
I wonder what she thinks.
Mark Normand, on the other hand, joked he would bring his wife to show her how good she has it in America: “I want to be like, ‘You see? You think I’m an asshole? Well, they’ll cut your clit off, removed.’”
They better be funny or they may be killed and cut up into tiny pieces.....
Guess everyone has a price after all…. I hope they sleep well on their millions now.
that price is less than 1mil apparently, but these comedian are hoping for future comedian gigs which will pay more by MSB
You guys expect way too much from the court jesters. There's plenty of serious enterprises investing heavily in SA, go after them if this is something you care deeply about. Comedians aren't supposed to be the moral pulse of society and yet that's how almost all conversations about them are framed these days.
Go watch old late night bits. Zero politics. LOL, somebody on here the other day was trying to say the Late Show had always been political. Someone who never watched Carson.
Comedians have evolved into the "moral pulse" role. They seem to be the only group speaking truth to power and having any traction whatsoever.
Anyway, you got me thinking on all that, so I thank you!
Comedians have been making fun of politics my whole life. Not always what I would call taking a side but at the least calling out whatever foolishness was on the news cycle.
This was kind of my thought too. They're just dudes who want to make money. Sure, yeah, hate them for working with SA, that's fine, but what were you honestly expecting from these people?
its the fans that are apalled, everyone else, i dont really care, but im amused they finally show thier true colors.
Jo Koy hurt me the most. First time I saw my wife crying with joy over his Asian accents bit. He's not nearly so funny if you're not Filipino, or are at least close to the community, but he's still damned good.
Guess they all got caught up in the idea that, "Everyone else is doing it!" And honestly? I could see myself fall into that.
I'm sure I'll get beat up for making excuses for them. But I'm not that guy, and I wasn't there. Were you?
Yet as a country they buy their oil and supply them weapons, but this is a bridge too far I suppose.
Argh I'm so upset by this betrayal I'm going to type something on the internets.
That'll solve it.
US imports of Saudi oil have not been significant for awhile now, North American oil production has increased massively over the past several decades. The US has actually been energy independent and a net exporter for around 5 years or so I think.
I don't think many Americans are happy about the US relationship with Saudi Arabia but it doesn't get shoved in their faces often so when comedians act like this it becomes an avenue for that anger to be expressed. Many Americans have parasocial relationships with comedians, and/or have this idea that they are "fearless truth-tellers", so it hits a lot different compared to abstract foreign policy and people get a lot more easily riled up about it.
and/or have this idea that they are “fearless truth-tellers”
They kinda were... some 50 years ago.
Paid to look the other way eh, fine I choose to do the same and look and support the performers that boycotted or refused and look away from you.
They know they will get future gigs with MSB, who will probably pay millions down the line per show, or viewing. aside from chapelle who is obviously wants to joke about trans people with no restrictions, the others are just doing it for money.
“We’re starving too!““ Said comics and artists who definitely are not starving, especially after performing in Saudi Arabia
I wish I could pirate this media more, but I’m already not paying for it. But, at least, I can go online and be indignant about it!
Are you seeding? Next logical step would be to help other people not give these assholes money.
Yes, I am
they can just saying they want future "comedy gigs" that SA WILL PAY IN THE FUTURE, thats why.
"Wayne Brady makes Bryant Gumbel look like Malcolm X." - Paul Mooney.
The Grift must go on!
It's kind of a who's who of questionable comedians. Curious from a moral perspective: if one takes the gig and donates their proceeds to a charitable cause, are they off the hook?
Another thing I'm reminded of is, I've heard many big comedians have had a gig at a corporate event at one point or another (I've heard some refer to them as terrible audiences lol). In that world, you're kinda trained early on to never turn down a gig... but if they were to headline a company event for say, Nestle or United Healthcare or something, are we ok with that too?
The title says comedians but the pictures are people who are definitely not funny, so I guess the Saudis are going to want their money back.
Mark Normand, on the other hand, joked he would bring his wife to show her how good she has it in America: “I want to be like, ‘You see? You think I’m an asshole? Well, they’ll cut your clit off, removed.’”
What an asshole.
Who is the comedian looking like the Corinthian in the thumbnail?
Pete Davidson, whose popularity with people remains a mystery to me.
Oh. He got popular because Lorne Michael likes him. I think Lorne just enjoyed the fact his dad died during 9/11 so people had to like him or else they weren't patriotic. I have no clue how he pulls the girls he pulls though.
What's with people in here expecting comedians to be moral paragons? Especially Bill Burr. Dude's whole claim to fame is being a piece of shit.
You don't need to be a moral paragon to recognize that taking money from the fucking bone saw guy to whitewash his shitty dictatorship is bad and will piss off your audience. Where is the line for you? If you think Burr is excused for this because his claim to fame is being a piece of shit, could he do anything you actually find unacceptable?
Theyre comedians, dude. They do corporate gigs all the time, and always have. And no one gave a shit. Even though many of those corporations would be evil as fuck as well.
But in the case of this, you could at least make the argument that theres a greater good being served, in so much as that the country is being exposed to new ideas and views through comedy. Bill Burr said "theyre just like us" when talking about the people, and social media crucified him for it. Why? Because they hold the people to account for the actions of their leaders. Which to give it context, would be like calling someone a Trump voter because they happen to be American.
The whole outrage is fucking stupid. The focus should be on the Saudi leaders, who are once again trying to wash their image on the global stage. But instead, all we hear about is how much of a piece of shit Bill Burr is... Tell me, do you go this hard on City group? Man City, New York City teams are sports washing pure and simple. Wheres all the outrage about that, which has been going on for more than a decade?
By that logic, Bill Burr and every single other comedian should leave the US and never perform there again, as the country currently engages in material support of genocide of Palestinians. I agree with that logic, I'm not playing devil's advocate
It's not that black and white. Initially, the government wanted to closely police everything that was said. But they softened their stance after some back and forth. So Saudis who attended the shows were exposed to some mildly sacrilegious stuff. Religious fundamentals could frankly use a lot more of that in this world, and hopefully they will be less crazy as a result.
idk, i'm just getting tired of this hyper-fixation on holding performers to some lofty standard. He did something that isn't remotely enough to land him in prison, so I'm going to not care at all and keep enjoying his comedy. Seems fairly reasonable to me.
there are fans of these comedians, you are going to expect some critcism if they are hypocritical. its not like its a NON-FAn that suddenly was criticizing him.
Extremely disgusting. I already found most of these people uncool and unfunny but I thought Bill Burr was at least alright (still didn't think he was funny, but he at least seemed to have sane political views - guess not). The only way any of them can make this a respectable choice is if they're doing it Trojan Horse style, and they're planning to tell a bunch of jokes shitting on Saudi Arabia and calling them out for their infinity of evil acts. Not getting my hopes up for that, though.
The Guardian remains respectable and has not pulled punches in this article at least.
It's already happened. I don't think there were any Trojan Horse-style jokes unfortunately
Oh derp, I saw "October 9th" and glossed over the rest. Yeah no surprise. Telling a joke like that in that environment might get you killed. Not that they see any problem with that I guess.
I almost respect that more than the comedians that play it off as just another act.
I have enough moral to look the other way, away from these so called sell out comedians.
I was looking for the onion link...
they Lie, they dint pay 10s of millions. its a grift, in order to get more paying gigs by SA in the future. most of them were paid less than 1mil
Clickbait
If you do know any of them somehow you might want to refuse any of their gift from now on if you believe it's from dirty money.
“One reporter was killed by the government – unfortunate, but not a fucking hill that I’m gonna die on,” Jim Jefferies said on Theo Von’s podcast in August, arguing it is for the greater good that “freedom-of-speech machines” such as himself bestow their “edgy” material on the kingdom and its subjects. (Since making the comments, Jefferies has since disappeared from the festival’s lineup; his representatives did not respond to inquiries about this.)
lol
How high is that number? According to Dillon, pretty high: in the same podcast that got him fired, he said the organizers offered him $375,000 and claimed that some comedians were offered millions. Gillis did not reveal how much the organizers offered him, but he did say that when he initially refused, they “doubled the bag”. Tough news for Dillon, who elsewhere claimed he asked for $500,000 but had to settle for less.
[Nimesh Patel] suggested that he could make up for the loss by performing “40 shows … here in the perfectly clean, moral, above-everyone-else United States of America.”
Would be funny if any of these comedians accepted but did a shit job on purpose to get booed off stage, then just explained that stunt as "giving their money's worth"
So what makes this worse then doing a show for the US? And I don't mean just now with Trump the US has been doing horrible stuff for decades, but do they get a pass because they are the "good" guys.
I mean they had Guatemala bay for how long.
Not the same scenario. The equivalent would be these comedians doing a set that was paid for by the White House, with a list of restrictions on what could be said. Which would receive just as much backlash
whispers Guantanamo
whispers also we still have it
You can't tell which is worse? That says a lot about you.
No it says alot about you. The US has done horrible things but they get a free pass. Because they're the good guys and they're BS manifest Destiny complex.
Let's see removed democratically elected leaders in countries to stick in their sock puppet government.
Then goes to eat against that government when it no longer listens to them.
Then whisks people away tons jail where they get no.trial or anything and tortures them.
I mean the US is responsible for more deaths and pain and suffering then the Saudis. So why are they not worse because they're white.
Then not mention what Americas consumerist culture is and has done to the world.
i agree, the US has obviously committed far more heinous acts and destabilised specific countries and the world way more than anything the Saudis have done.
Everyone in the country does it. Why is this special?
We all went to Saudi Arabia to perform in a comedy festival?
Honestly a good time to do it given its a good time to make fun of trump and why not pickup a paycheck along the way. Would be going full force on maga.
I agree with the criticism but let's not forget that if they've ever performed for the American government, they've already done worse. I don't think many from the list posted in the comments have, though.
I get it, but this is a different thing because our comedians don't perform for the US government, and certainly under restrictions.
This is 100% a play by the House of Saud, "See? We're not so bad!"
Certainly!
So what? The US also did a lot of terrible things to other countries and we never boycott it
"What about". Groundbreaking.
Don't you mean double standard?
Maybe that's part of the problem, eh? Also, maybe skim a newspaper once in a while.
It's actually pretty easy to explain why rich people are removed.
The reason they're rich is that they care so much about money. If they didn't care about money, then at some point, they'd have enough money, and after that, they won't be so interested in getting more money. Those people wouldn't become rich.
Yes, there are exceptions. Some comedians just want to become famous, or want to go down in history as the best comedian. But most of them probably want to become rich and famous.
But what does "rich" mean? It's not a specific amount of money. It's that you're comparing yourself to other people, and saying that you have more money than them. Donald Trump was so obsessed with this that he committed fraud to lie about his wealth. And basically all rich people have the same mindset to some degree.
If your goal is to be rich, then no amount of money is enough, and you'll do anything if people pay you enough.
The buddha says that the more you have the more you want
Always loved this guy.
David has bee speaking the truth since Mr. Show. What a legend.