Comedian Bill Burr has responded to criticism about his recent appearance at the Riyadh Comedy Festival.
Burr was among a number of high-profile comedians who travelled to the festival in Saudi Arabia, alongside Dave Chappelle, Pete Davidson, Whitney Cummings, Kevin Hart, Louis C.K., Andrew Schulz, and more.
The Riyadh Comedy Festival was the latest effort by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 initiative to modernise and diversify Saudi Arabia’s economy through entertainment and tourism. The comedians on the bill quickly received backlash from their peers, including David Cross, Marc Maron, and Shane Gillis, for reportedly accepting hefty paychecks in exchange for taking part in an event that Human Rights Watch said is being used to deflect attention from the country’s “brutal repression of free speech.”
Cross specifically called out Burr in his response condemning the festival, adding: “I am disgusted, and deeply disappointed in this whole gross thing.”
During a new appearance on Conan O’Brien’s podcast, Burr said he does not “give a fuck what all these phony fucking people are saying,” and that he had “no fucking idea” it would be so controversial.
“The general consensus is, ‘How dare you go to that place and make those oppressed people laugh, you fucking piece of shit. I can’t believe you went to that place. I can’t find it on a map, and this bot said I was upset about it so now I am,’” Burr said.
“It’s one thing to wear clothes made by sweatshop labor. It’s quite another to go to the factory and make ’em laugh. I can’t believe how much anger I had about this issue after it went viral.”
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Burr continued: “I really don’t give a fuck Conan. And if it affects my career, I’ve been to LAX enough in my life, I’ll fucking sit home for a little bit. I will actually tell you LAX is slightly sadder than Saudi Arabia. I’ve been going through this bullshit the whole week.
Earlier in the week, he doubled down on his stance that it was an overall positive experience, calling it “one of the top three” he’s had.
“It was great to experience that part of the world and to be a part of the first comedy festival over there in Saudi Arabia,” Burr said on an episode of his podcast. “The royals loved the show. Everyone was happy. The people that were doing the festival were thrilled.”
He told O’Brien that committing to his stance “was necessary” and “felt right”.
“I vibed with them and they were funny. Fuck, they were funny fucking people. I don’t know what to tell you. I had a good time.”
