Overview

• The state-backed event, billed by Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority as the world’s largest of its kind, runs Sept. 26–Oct. 9 in Riyadh’s Boulevard City with more than 50 international performers under the Vision 2030 program.
• Headliners listed by organizers include Dave Chappelle, Kevin Hart, Pete Davidson, Bill Burr, Aziz Ansari, Jessica Kirson and others, with shows promoted on Visit Saudi’s platforms.
• Screenshots shared by Atsuko Okatsuka show content restrictions prohibiting material that could “degrade” or “defame” the kingdom, its royal family, the legal system, the government or any religion, with a request to post festival endorsements on social media.
• Reporting cites appearance fees ranging from roughly $350,000 to $1.6 million, including Tim Dillon’s claim he was offered $375,000 and later dropped after podcast jokes, which festival organizers have not publicly confirmed.
• Participation has split the comedy community, with refusals and withdrawals by Shane Gillis, Nimesh Patel and others, sharp new condemnation from David Cross and criticism from Marc Maron, as rights groups highlight the timing near the seventh anniversary of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder.