What Is the Controversy Surrounding the Riyadh Comedy Festival? Here's What We Know

Comedy fans are wondering what the controversy is surrounding the Riyadh Comedy Festival after one of the festival's comedians, Tim Dillon, was dropped from the lineup, per CBS News.

Tim was reportedly let go from the comedy fest because of jokes he made about slavery in Saudi Arabia. He recalled his agent saying to the comedian, "They heard what you said about them having slaves."

The comedy show is also controversial due to the human rights violations of the Saudi Arabian government. Journalist Jamal Khashoggi was a journalist for The Washington Post, and he was murdered back in 2018 after going into the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, per the BBC.

Tim discussed being dropped from the Riyadh Comedy Festival during the Sept. 20 episode of his podcast, The Tim Dillon Show, and he was dropped after making a joke about slavery during an episode on Aug. 30.

"I literally said, 'Slaves are probably hard workers, and for the most part, agreeable.' But they didn't like that. You can literally support somebody too much."

The news reignited discussion about the human rights violations of the government of Saudi Arabia. One of the most well-known is the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. Jamal was a critic of the Saudi Arabian government, and he went missing after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, 2018. The Washington Post journalist was engaged to Hatice Cengiz, and he entered the consulate to get a divorce document.

Hatice accompanied Jamal to the consulate and waited for 10 hours outside, but he never came out. The Saudi Arabian government denied having any knowledge of Jamal's fate for two weeks. Prince Mohammed claimed that he left the consulate within a few minutes or within an hour. On Oct. 20, the Saudi government admitted that Jamal had died. His body was reportedly dismembered and never seen again, per NPR.

Hatice said that Jamal did not believe he would be harmed on Turkish soil, but he advised her to call Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan if he didn't come out of the consulate.

Joey Shea from Human Rights Watch said that performers at the Riyadh Comedy Festival should use the opportunity to highlight the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

“The seventh anniversary of Jamal Khashoggi’s brutal murder is no laughing matter, and comedians receiving hefty sums from Saudi authorities shouldn’t be silent on prohibited topics in Saudi like human rights or free speech,” he said. “Everyone performing in Riyadh should use this high-profile opportunity to call for the release of detained Saudi activists.”

Several high-profile comedians are scheduled to perform at the Riyadh Comedy Festival, per Billboard, including Dave Chappelle, Kevin Hart, Bill Burr, Jim Jeffries, Mark Normand, Sebastian Maniscalco, Louis C.K., Whitney Cummings, Tom Segura, and Andrew Schulz.

Other performers include "Fluffy" comedian Gabriel Iglesias, Hannibal Buress, former Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson, Jo Koy, Aziz Ansari, and Nimesh Patel.