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Comedians like Dave Chappelle poked fun at an alleged chilling effect on free speech in the U.S. after they signed contracts to do government-approved comedy acts at a festival in Saudi Arabia.
In the weeks since the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, some left-wing media figures have found themselves in hot water for remarks about the killing and his alleged assassin. After the brief suspension of late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel after he appeared to falsely suggest the suspect was a MAGA supporter, many have fretted about the state of free speech in America.
Meanwhile, there has been a massive comedy festival in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, featuring many of the world’s best-known working comedians. The festival, Deadline reported, included Kevin Hart, Aziz Ansari, Hannibal Buress, Bill Burr, Dave Chappelle, Louis C.K., Whitney Cummings, Pete Davidson, Zarna Garg, Gabriel Iglesias, Jim Jefferies, Jo Koy, Bobby Lee, Jeff Ross, Andrew Santino, Tom Segura, Chris Tucker and more.
According to the New York Times, Chappelle quipped during a set that took place over the weekend, “Right now in America, they say that if you talk about Charlie Kirk, that you’ll get canceled,” later adding, “I don’t know if that’s true, but I’m going to find out.”
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“It’s easier to talk here than it is in America,” he argued, later joking that if the U.S. government ever cracked down on him, the uncharacteristic phrase he would use to alert people he had been compromised would be, “I stand with Israel.”
“Mr. Chappelle has talked frequently about being canceled after an uproar caused by his jokes mocking trans people. But in Riyadh, he also took aim at the recent suspension of Mr. Kimmel,” The New York Times summarized. “Like other comedians at the event who said they felt muzzled by American political correctness, Mr. Chappelle reveled in making uncouth jokes in Saudi Arabia. Yet he overlooked an eight-year crackdown that has led to many of the country’s writers, businesspeople, activists, clerics and social media influencers being arrested.”
This has led to many performers there being accused of normalizing or “artwashing” the Saudi Arabian regime with their entertainment.
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One comedian who refused to participate in the festival, Atsuko Okatsuka, shared purported screenshots of a contract that performers allegedly had to sign ensuring their content did not violate the guidelines of the Saudi Arabian government.
The contract reportedly prohibited “any material considered to degrade, defame, or bring into public disrepute, contempt, scandal, embarrassment, or ridicule” the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Any jokes about religions or the reigning Saudi royal family were forbidden as well.
Fox News Digital reached out to Chappelle’s management and did not receive immediate reply.
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