Two standup comedians with a connection to Saturday Night Live are on opposite sides of a hotly debated comedy festival to be held in Saudi Arabia this fall.
Former SNL cast member Pete Davidson is reportedly planning to appear at the Riyadh Comedy Festival later this year. The festival, which will run from September 26 to October 9, is sponsored by the state government of Saudi Arabia, the same people who have alleged to have been involved in terrorist activity, including the 9/11 attacks in the United States.
Davidson’s father, a New York city firefighter, died at the World Trade Center in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In an appearance on the Theo Von podcast last week, Davidson explained he was getting pushback for accepting an invitation, but that once he saw the amount of money he could, he decided to go.
“I’ve been getting a little bit of flak just because my dad died (in) 9/11,” Davidson said.
Two-time SNL host turned down offer to perform for Saudi crown prince
Comedian Shane Gillis, who was briefly a cast member of SNL and has twice hosted the show, has revealed that he turned down a significant payment to appear at the Riyadh Comedy Festival. “I took a principled stand. You don’t 9/11 your friends,” Gillis said, referring to the claims that Saudi Arabia, despite being a proposed ally of the United States, had connections to the attacks, including funding training for the operation.
All 19 terrorists who took part in the deadly attacks on U.S. soil on September 11, 2001, were Saudi Arabian citizens. The state government has long been accused of being at least a part-sponsor of terrorist organizations, including al-Qaeda, which claimed responsibility for the 9/11 attacks which toppled the two World Trade Center towers and partially destroyed the Pentagon building in Washington D.C.
Maron criticizes the comedy festival
Marc Maron, the former podcaster and a popular standup comedian, was pointed in his criticism of performers who have decided to appear at the festival in Saudi Arabia.
“I mean, how do you even promote that? … ‘From the folks that brought you 9/11 … Two weeks of laughter in the desert, don’t miss it!’” Maron said on a recent podcast appearance. “I mean, the same guy that’s gonna pay them is the same guy that paid that guy to bone-saw Jamal Khashoggi and put him in a fucking suitcase. But don’t let that stop the [laughs], it’s gonna be a good time!”
Maron is referring to the brutal death of journalist Khashoggi, who was allegedly killed by officials of the Saudi government in 2018 at a government building on the orders of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. That heinous act was almost certainly perpetrated on the orders of Salman. Some key officials in the U.S. intelligence community have made that charge.
Under Salman, free speech has been restricted in Saudi Arabia, a nation that also has many restraints on the rights of women.
Other comedians reportedly scheduled to appear at the comedy festival sponsored by the Saudi Arabian government include Dave Chappelle, Bill Burr, Kevin Hart, and Aziz Ansari.
