Overview

• Dave Chappelle told a crowd of roughly 6,000 in Riyadh that “it’s easier to talk here than it is in America,” joking about U.S. cancel culture and referencing Charlie Kirk.
• Bill Burr described the festival as a top-three career experience and said organizers narrowed onstage limits to avoiding jokes about the royal family and religion after pushback.
• The inaugural event features more than 50 prominent comics, including Kevin Hart, Pete Davidson, Louis C.K., Aziz Ansari and others, and continues in Riyadh into next week.
• Human Rights Watch and fellow comedians such as David Cross and Marc Maron accuse the festival of “whitewashing” Saudi abuses, urging performers to denounce repression.
• Comedian Atsuko Okatsuka publicized restrictive deal terms and declined to perform, reports cite large appearance fees ranging from about $300,000 to $1.6 million, and Tim Dillon says he was disinvited over an old Saudi joke.