While headlining Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Comedy Festival on Saturday (via The New York Times), comedy giant Dave Chappelle deliberated over the do’s and don’ts of free speech in America, deeming it “easier to talk” in the Middle Eastern nation than back home in the States.
“Right now in America, they say that if you talk about Charlie Kirk, you’ll get canceled,” Chappelle said. “I don’t know if that’s true, but I’m gonna find out.”
“It’s easier to talk here than it is in America,” he added.
Chappelle later said he was nervous to return to the U.S. because “they’re going to do something to me so that I can’t say what I want to say.”
The Riyadh Comedy Festival has drawn scathing criticism from several American comedians. David Cross released a statement on Monday shaming Chappelle, as well as fellow Riyadh performers Bill Burr and Louie CK, for signing up for the event and condoning “totalitarian fiefdom.”
“Clearly you guys don’t give a shit about what the rest of us think, but how can any of us take any of you seriously ever again?” Cross added. “All of your bitching about ‘cancel culture’ and ‘freedom of speech’ and all that shit? Done. You don’t get to talk about it ever again. By now we’ve all seen the contract you had to sign.”
Burr had an entirely different outlook on the event from the inside. He said on a Sept. 29 episode of his “Monday Morning Podcast” that Riyadh was one of the “top three experiences” he’s ever had.
Love Film & TV?
Get your daily dose of everything happening in music, film and TV in Australia and abroad.
“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.”
From Variety US