Today, Explained - Saudi Arabia is no joke

Episode Date: October 9, 2025

The Riyadh Comedy Festival was billed as “two weeks of laughs in the desert” but has comics asking, “At what cost?” This episode was produced by Hady Mawajdeh, edited by Amina Al-Sadi, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Adriene Lilly, and hosted by Noel King. A poster for the The Riyadh Comedy Festival shared by the Visit Saudi social media feed. Listen to Today, Explained ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. New Vox members get $20 off their membership right now. Transcript at ⁠vox.com/today-explained-podcast.⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's today explained, hey, what's Jimmy Kimmel been up to since he got back on the air? Please welcome Aziz Ansari. Look at you in a suit. Wow, wow. Oh, he got Aziz Ansari. I haven't been here since all this ice stuff started happening. I'm all nervous. I got friends.

They're like, we're hiding our nanny in the basement. We might have to raise our kids. We don't know what we're going to do. So fun. I want to ask you about this comedy festival over in Saudi Arabia that you were part of because people, a lot of comedians especially are very upset. Oh. It's a pretty brutal regime.

They've done a lot of horrible, horrible things. And so people are questioning why you would go over there and take their money to perform in front of these people. And I'm just curious because you were there. You made this decision. I'm curious as to why you decided to do that. Coming up, why they decided to do that. Rinse takes your laundry and hand delivers it to your door,

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I'm Noel King Abdullah Aloda is Senior. for countering authoritarianism at the Middle East Democracy Center in Washington, D.C. Abdullah is Saudi, and he knows a thing or two about freedom in the kingdom, namely that freedom ain't free thanks to a draconian counterterrorism law. Like criticizing the foreign policy is considered an act of terrorism, criticizing the king or the conference. Of course, there's actually an article within the law that says questioning the wisdom of the king or the current presence is an act of terrorism.

We have also another law that's called anti-cyber crime law that criminalizes anything that they describe as threatening the public value or the question in the tranquility of society. Things that are like really broad and weird, they can encompass this basically, anything included in my conversation with you right here. Oh, if we were having this conversation in Saudi Arabia, you would get in trouble? I would be tried in the terrorism court and would be convicted for so many years, if not executed. Okay. I understand your dad is in prison in Saudi Arabia. Is he in prison for this kind of thing? Yeah. So my father was detained in September 2017. He just marked eight years. He's still in solitary confinement, which, by the way, is considered a form of torture under international law. the thing that triggered all of this, believe it or not, a tweet in which he called for reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Qatar at that time during the rift between the two countries.

He said, may God harmonize between the hearts of the two leaders for the best of the people. They locked him up for so many years now, and they are seeking the death penalty against him on 37 charges, including corrupting earth by trying to transform the mind. underkey into a democratic system, calling to free arbitrary detainees, and supporting democratic revolution during the Arab Supreme in 2011. Okay. So, amid all of this, a bunch of big-name American comedians have been getting a lot of criticism for participating in a comedy festival in Riyadh.

Tell me about this festival and why it's such a big deal there. this is an event that is sponsored completely by the Saudi government paid completely by the 70 government why that's why you see but for example the double amount given to all these comedians how big was a check 375,000 for one show nice that's not bad that's pretty good I'll watch it be handing for that be handing yeah I didn't want to do it either I was I was contemplating I was like maybe not and then Jasmine was like you're going to take that fucking money I just you know I get the routing and then I see the number, and I go, I'll go. Okay, okay. Yeah. I was speaking to people in the showbiz here in the States who said in such events, they would usually be given like 50 to 60 or 70,000 for a night. And in Saudi Arabia, they are given like 200 to 300 to 5, sometimes 100,000 for one night,

which is basically sometimes shibble the amount that they got elsewhere. The Saudi government is doing this. They are sponsored in this. They have the deep pocket. It's not a private company. It's not like any show that you see in the world or wash or follow like a private company or a business or a businessman or like a, you know, basically a private entity doing this. No, this is an entity that is part of the Saudi government that's called Public Investment Fund. It's a sovereign wealth fund owned completely by the Saudi government.

All of this is managed and controlled completely and directly by no other than the Saudi Crime Prince himself. And that's why this is so controversial, because it's the same person who commits all the crime and who does all the atrocities that we talk about. I'll give you a quick example. So this event is paid by the Public Investment Fund. The helm of the buyout is Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. The PIF is Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund.

It's one of the largest in the world with assets expected to exceed $1 trillion by 2025. This public investment fund has another subsidy that is called Prime Aviation. Prime Aviation was used during the Khashoggi murder. Now to the mysterious disappearance that has prompted an outcry around the world. This is the last time Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was seen alive. To commit the crime of flying all these people, the team that actually killed and dismember our friend Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Council in Istanbul in 2018. So you get like the same exact entity, Phef, doing all this

bad business, doing all of these like dirty work. But at the same time, and instead of fixing the things on the ground, stopping from killing people, protecting human rights, respecting dignity and freedom of speech, they do an easier way for them, which is to continue whatever they have been doing, to do all the violations that they have been doing, but at the same time, pay for people to make them look good. It's the optics of it. That's what they all cared about at the end. Are they just doing this with comedy festivals, or are they doing it in other ways, too? No, actually, they're doing it with the sports. The PGA and Saudi-back live golf have officially announced a merger. The deal is a major victory for Saudi Arabia.

Through the Kingdom's sovereign wealth fund, they bought an English Premier League soccer team, Newcastle United. They bind major sports teams. They're hosting major sports event. The UFC returns to the kingdom with two middleweight blockbusters. Live from Saudi Arabia. The International Olympic Committee is partnering with the Riyadh based Eastport World Cup Foundation to host the first ever e-sport. Sports Olympics in Saudi Arabia in 27. They were just awarded the 2034 World Cup. The host of the FIFA World Cup, 2034, will be Saudi Arabia.

And all of this is part of this scheme of whitewashing machine that they have been running all along. I hear the criticism. I really do. I also wonder whether there might be some upside here, whether any of these events, bringing all of these outsiders, including many Westerners into Saudi Arabia, might change things in Saudi Arabia. Like, could there be any positive outcome from all of this? That's a good point. Let me bring in Bilbar here. I'm passionate about my opinions, and I want you to hear all of them before you get to talk again. So basically, Bill Burr, in Realde, said that he went to basically have fun and meet with people.

And he said the people were happy. And he just goes, hey, Bill Burr, I love you. Kick ass, man. And I could just feel like, these fucking people, the people, okay, they want to fucking show. And if you go back to Bill Burr a few years ago, we remember when he criticized Beyonce. Beyonce and Mariah Carey actually did private New Year's gigs for a million bucks. for Gaddafi's kids, you're going to take a gig where you're going to go dance like a goddamn fucking clown for a mass murderer's kids? Then you take that fucking blood money.

So I think if we use Bill Burr's own words, I would say the money that Bill Burr is taken from the 70 government that tortures us and kills the people that we like and love and follow is basically blood money. All right. So Bill Burr seems a bit like a hypocrite here, if we're being honest. Another one who's gotten a lot of attention, Dave Chappelle. So reportedly, during his set, he joked about being able to say things in Riyadh that he can't even say in the U.S. When you saw that reported, what did you think? I was so furious. My family are banned from traveling, not because they said something, but because I, in the U.S. here, said something. So they are, you know, taking them hostages against me. This is how they go after free speech.

not even in the kingdom, but also in the U.S. here. It's a part of what internationally is being called now transnational repression. And you go to this place, to the capital, just a few miles when my father is rested and detained and is potentially facing the death penalty for something that is protected by free speech. And you speech and you preach about, you know, free speech in Saudi Arabia.

I think this is hypocritical, to see the least. and it is hurted. It is hurting my family, myself. Asked Abd Rahman As Sadhan, who ran a satirical account on Twitter, and he was detained and tortured and sentenced to more than 20 years in prison because the Saudi government did not take a joke. If you're telling me that you're going to speak about things that are going to make fun of things,

well, tell me how are you going to make fun of the, person who, before you even came to Riyadh, made you sign a pledge and made you sign a contract, then you're not going to criticize the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the government, the current prince, or anything in Saudi Arabia. I don't know how you're going to talk about free speech while you just signed this kind of contract. At the end of the day, you know, the leaders in Saudi Arabia have an enormous amount of power. They have an enormous amount of money. They very clearly want to change their image. Is it working?

I think it is working. Look at these people. When you see the most famous comedians in Riyadh taking the money, not kidding about anything else, I think it's working. It's sending the message that money basically trumps everything else. Whether we like it or not, whether human rights like it or not, whether democracy likes it or not, that's the reality. And the only way that we can change this fact is when people decline these offers, when people, at least when they went over there, talk about human rights, or talk about the victims of the government that just hosted them.

But otherwise, the people who have the money is winning. That's Abdullah Aloda of the Middle East Democracy Center in Washington, D.C. Coming up, hack-on-hack violence, comedians turn on each other over the festival in Riyadh. Support for today explained comes from select quote. perhaps you're new to life insurance. For over 40 years, SelectQuote says they've been one of the most trusted brokers in insurance, helping more than 2 million Americans secure more than $700 billion in coverage. Their mission says SelectQuote is simple to find you the right term insurance policy for your unique needs.

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Save more than 50% on term life insurance at selectquot.com slash explained today to get started. That's selectquot.com slash explained. The Hulu original series Murdoch Death and the Family dives into secrets, deception, murder, and the fall of a powerful dynasty. Inspired by shocking actual events and drawing from the hit podcast, this series brings the drama to the screen like never before. Starring Academy Award winner Patricia Arquette and Jason Clark. Watch the Hulu original series Murdoch Death in the Family,

streaming October 15th on Disney Plus. This week on Net Worth and Chill, we're joined by Susie Welch, the best-selling author and leadership expert who spent decades helping people win at work and life. From climbing the corporate ladder at prestigious publications to co-authoring Winning with Jack Welch, Susie has turned her insights into both career success and serious money. She opens up about navigating major life transitions, why loving your work is actually a wealth-building strategy, and how her view bridge tool can transform your biggest career decisions. I also had voices in my head that were preventing me from betting on myself.

I was like, why would I bet on myself? I mean, the moment I finally stepped out and stepped into my purpose, I literally, like, I was alone in my room at night. And I thought, for the first time of my life, I'm going to do this terrifying thing. I'm going to better myself. Listen wherever you get your podcasts or watch on YouTube.com slash your rich BFF. Basically, a bunch of alist comedians. like Dave Chappelle, Luis E.K., Aziz Ansari, Bill Burr, all just over the last two weeks went to Riyadh to perform at the inaugural Riyadh Comedy Festival, funded by the Saudi government,

which is a little surprising because a lot of these comedians have spent the last 10 years or so complaining about how in America you can't say anything. Hey, if you do anything wrong in your life, duh, and I find out about it, I'm going to try to take everything away from you. Any comedian who's out in the world saying that comedian shouldn't be saying these things. Yeah. That's a traitor to comedy. As a comedian, I think anything on stage or anything that's an attempt of a joke to me, no matter what it is, no matter how big of a swing you take and you miss, it's okay.

They treat this as assault on their civil liberties, and they sort of frame themselves as the vanguard of free speech. They are the, you know, the front lines of speech in America, of, of, of, of, you know, the front lines of, liberty in America. And so, you know, to go and perform and take money from a regime that is notoriously repressive that, you know, locks people up and even executes people for what they say seemed a little hypocritical. I think it's hypocritical. That's Seth Simons. He's a journalist and critic who covers the comedy industry. And Seth has been reporting from the front lines of comedy's Civil War. A bunch of comedians like Mark Marin or Dave Cross or Atsiko Okatsuka found this to be a betrayal of their ostensible values

and criticize these comedians. I mean, the same guy that's going to pay them as the same guy that paid that guy to Bonsaw Jamal Khashoggi and put him in a fucking suitcase. But don't let that stop the yucks, it's going to be a good time. I think it's embarrassing

to go on stage and tell jokes that if some of the audience members tweeted from their own personal accounts could lead to them being executed. I think that's embarrassing. How did Sadie manage to book all these guys? I don't know. Oh, exactly, but I know they worked with WME, the Mega Talent Agency, and they worked with Bruce Hills, who was for years in charge of just for laughs, the huge comedy festival in Montreal.

So, you know, they have a lot of ways to lure A-list comedians, and they also threw a lot of money at them. There's a comedian named Tim Dillon, who on his podcast bragged that... They're paying me $375,000 for one show. He also in that same podcast told a bunch of jokes about, not really jokes. but being generous about how, you know, they have slaves in Saudi Arabia and they, you know, murdered a journalist for criticizing them. And he said, Do I have issues with some of the policies towards women, towards the gays, towards the way of that?

Yeah, towards the freedom of speech. Well, of course I do. But I believe in my own financial well-being. And then he got fired for saying all that. He also said that... Now, a lot of other people are getting $1.6 million. That's not me. I'm not in that bracket. I assume that means the Chappelle's, the Luis C.Ks, the Kevin Hartz, you know, made more than a million.

And, you know, he's friends with some of those comedians, so I do think he has sort of inside info. What interesting things have the comedians that went there said about performing there? They sort of framed it as a cultural interchange. You know, they are bringing comedy to this people who doesn't have a lot of stand-up comedy, I guess. Whenever there's repressive societies like this, they try to keep things out. whether it's rock and roll music or, you know, blue jeans, because it makes people curious about outside ideas, outside values. And to me, like a comedy festival felt like something that's pushing things to be more open. There's some good in it, maybe some bad in it, but I think for me it cuts towards going.

And that's my decision. And that's, I know where it's coming from because I can see right inside myself. They said that they didn't have to censor themselves, even though they sort of agreed to a contract that forbade criticism. the Saudi government religion. And other than that, everything was like open. You've seen some of them say that, you know, there were women at these shows.

There were young people at these shows. They weren't just performing for the Royals. I believe it was Bill Burr and some others have said that they, you know, did fairly raunchy jokes. Josh is up there, and he literally said, he goes, you can wear sandals over here and still get pussy? And everybody laughed, and the guy goes, yeah. There was a comedian named Chris DiStefano who said that, you know, someone shouted at him.

We wish you were more vulgar. A girl said that. She was like, give us the dirty stuff. He's so thirsty for it. Yeah. The joke he said was, oh, you want me to do the dirty stuff? Let's kill all the Jews. Oh.

Was how he recalled that on his podcast. Oh. Yeah. I mean, that's the sort of stuff you see on these podcasts. And they've said that they got treated very well. DeStefano said that Whitney Cummings said that no one has treated her as well in the U.S. as the Saudis treated her. You've seen a lot of videos posted by the Saudis running the festival of like these comedians, getting plied with flowers and, you know, surrounded by food and just sort of being given the red carpet treatment, which I think is important to a lot of these comedians to feel like they are important and famous celebrities. Are they outliers in the history of comedians?

Like I'm thinking about George Carlin, Lenny Bruce. Like, didn't they also push the envelope wherever they could and then scream free speech? when anybody pushed back at them? Yes and no. Carlin and Bruce were both arrested for their acts. Bruce was prosecuted and convicted. San Francisco, I got arrested for, I'm not going to repeat the word because I want to finish the gig here tonight.

George Carlin, his act sort of led to a Supreme Court decision that basically upheld the FCC's power to regulate indecency and obscenity on public airwaves. You know, what are these words that I'm talking? about. They're just words that we've decided, sort of decided, not to use all the time. That's about the only thing you can really say about them for sure, that there are just some words, not many either, just a few, that we've decided, well, we won't use them all the time. Both those guys and others like them took actual heat. They were, you know, targeted by the state in a way that none of these comedians have been. And I do at the same time also think that

a lot of the history of comedy is a history of sort of aggrieved men using their art form to say horrible things about, you know, about black people, about gay people. But, you know, the people who comedians treat as their icons like Carlin and Lenny Bruce, I think, did legitimately fight and suffer for their rights. The pushback was really interesting because it came not just from, you know, Shmose, but people like Mark Maron. Yeah. How big of a deal is it?

I mean, in a month, do we care what Pete Davidson did in Saudi Arabia? Like, does this tarnish these guys? I don't know, and I'll be curious to see. I do think it is a big deal for other comedians to speak out because, you know, if you've been paying attention to comedy, over the last five, six years, you've seen, obviously, Chappelle release a series of anti-trans specials and declare himself a turf.

Turf is an acronym. stands for trans-exclusionary radical feminists. This is a real thing. This is a group of women that hate transgender. They don't hate transgender women, but they look at trans women the way we blacks might look at blackface. It offends them. Like, this bitch is doing an impression to me.

You saw in, like, the very first months of the pandemic, when people were still dying by the thousands, and, you know, there was no vaccine. A lot of these comedians were talking about now went right back out on the, road in May, June 2020, and performed across the country in very fairly small, often underground rooms that were super spreader events. I wasn't going to talk about the coronavirus, but on the way here, I got really ill.

And, you know, you've seen just sort of racism, levels of racism that would have been scandalous six years ago are now normal on these comedians' podcasts, and sometimes in their acts. And you don't see a lot of criticism of that from other comedians. So I think there's a lot of shady stuff that happens in comedy that would be a big deal if people like Mark Marin or other ostensibly liberal and left-leaning or just plain good, decent comics, made a fuss about it. But I think a lot of them sort of just want to stay in their lane and not make a fuss. But to answer your question, it is very notable that this caused the uproar it did. And even fans, if you go to these comedians like subredits, or if you look at their comment sections on Twitter, you'll see

a lot of their fans are bringing it up pretty constantly. I do think they sort of maybe went a little too far in a way that the comedians might not have expected would cause the backlash it did. But it remains to be seen how well that will be metabolized. by a public that is sort of, you know, obviously dealing with a constant stream of horrible news and disappointing public figures. Seth Simons, he's a journalist and critic who covers comedy. Of course, Hadi-Muaghi produced today's show. Amina El-Sadi edited Laura Bullard checks the facts, and Adrian Lilly is our only engineer.

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vox.com slash members. Thank you, by the way, for supporting Vox journalism. We really appreciate it. Who am I? I'm Noelle King. It's today explained. Thank you.