We Do Not Have to Hand It to the Saudis
Oh Bill Burr... What are you doing man? You were the chosen one. You were supposed to destroy the Sith, not join them!
I'm referencing, of course, the Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia this week and next. Burr, one of my favorite lefty comedians decided to accept a hefty bag to join about 20 other comedians including Dave Chappelle, Pete Davidson, Louis CK, and Kevin Hart to perform in the kingdom's capital.
It's the latest Saudi attempt to whitewash their international image by financing and running international entertainment events. The Saudis have also thrown a lot of money into the esports scene, competitive gaming, hosting the Esports World Cup every year. Just this week, a consortium of Saudis, along with Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, bought American gaming behemoth Electronic Arts, maker of some of the biggest games on the planet like Madden football and the FC series.
The royal family and others in power there have also made significant investments in their domestic soccer league, signing international star Christiano Ronaldo to league power Al Nassr, where he played from 2022 through 2027.
The Saudis are making a very deliberate effort to try to use investment in international events in order to clean up their disturbing international image. Among the horrific acts the Saudis are accused of is supporting the terrorists who did 9/11, luring and murdering Washington Post columnist and frequent Saudi regime critic Jamal Khashoggi, the extensive use of slave labor throughout the kingdom, and heavily restricting women from the basics of individual liberties.
This is the horrific legacy the Saudi government wishes you would stop thinking about. Instead when you think of Saudi Arabia, they want you to think of the laughs they bought at the comedy festival, or the amazing play that won the League of Legends event at the Esports World Cup, or an amazing Christiano Ronaldo scored for Al Nassr.
This is the project that Burr and these other comedians are lending their names to. I hope the money they're getting for this is worth it, because I will never respect any of these guys again. Reportedly, performers were offered substantial amounts of money to perform, according to several performers who rejected invites. The Saudi contract included heavy restrictions on the jokes that comedians could say at the festival, including language that prohibited the artists from performing material that “may be considered to degrade, defame, or bring into public disrepute, contempt, scandal, embarrassment, or ridicule” the country, its royal family or any religion.
The best summation of the issue and how performers should respond to these Saudi overtures into athletics and entertainment was this video last year by lead Valorant commentator Josh "Sideshow" Wilkinson on his YouTube channel:
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud and his magnate allies are trying to buy reputation through sports and entertainment for the same reason that Adolf Hitler wanted to host the Olympics in 1936 and Argentina wanted to host the World Cup in 1978.
The Saudi money problem is so pervasive that this episode of the podcast Fear& revealed that 3 of the hosts had been offered significant money to either do events for the Saudis or to buy the Streamer Awards, and annual event run and hosted by streamer Blaire, better known as QTCinderella. I happened to be listening to their most recent episode while writing this post.
It seems like everyone and their mother is being offered Saudi money, except, notably, queer people. A PR contact me got in touch with me earlier this year, asking if I would be in Riyadh covering the Esports World Cup, and I had to explain that SA is not a safe place for a trans reporter and critic of the regime to spend time in.
I can understand when esports pros who are already struggling for cash have to play in a lucrative event in order to make a living but you can't tell me Dave Chappelle is that hard up for cash? Pete Davidson, your dad died in 9/11, what are you doing?
One of the arguments I've heard to let all of this go is that the US is just as evil as Saudi Arabia, and so how can we be hosting events like next year's World Cup, or the upcoming Olympics in LA. Both will presumably be presided over by President Donald Trump. In fact, Trump has a replica World Cup trophy on prominent display behind his desk in the Oval Office. He's laundering his own image off the back of FIFA, the international governing body for soccer.
But the difference is that neither Trump nor the US is paying these soccer teams or the future Olympians directly. The athletes aren't taking money to lend their names and reputations to prop up the Trump regime or the image of the United States.
The convergence of international entertainment and sports, and international politics is frequently a thorny issue to untangle. But it's pretty cut and dry with Saudi Arabia. I can never support the regime in charge of that country. They murdered my journalist colleagues and commit human rights violations against disfavored minorities as easily they breathe.
I have better people in which to place my respect. Sorry Bill.
Thank you for reading my newsletter. I'll be back Friday with another edition of Sick Burns. If you appreciated this piece, consider becoming a paid subscriber, I depend on the generosity of my readers to continue doing this work.
