With Saudi Arabia’s star-studded debut comedy festival kicking off this weekend, comedian Atsuko Okatsuka has revealed some of the event’s strict terms.
Noting she turned down a gig at the Riyadh Comedy Festival over the summer, Okatsuka said the terms of her offer would have had her “adhere to censorship rules” about the kinds of joke she could make, revealing details of the Sela Group contract.
“FYI there are more of us that said no to the Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia. Here’s the offer I got back in July,” she wrote on Threads.
“The money is coming straight from the Crown Prince, who actively executes journalists, ppl with nonlethal drug offenses, bloggers, etc without due process. A lot of the ‘you can’t say anything anymore!’ comedians are doing the festival,” added Okatsuka with screenshots of the contract. “They had to adhere to censorship rules about the types of jokes they can make.”
One of the screenshots of the alleged contract states in its “Content Restrictions” section, “ARTIST shall not prepare or perform any material that may be considered to degrade, defame, or bring into public disrepute, contempt, scandal, embarrassment, or ridicule:
“A) The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including its leadership, public figures, culture, or people; B) The Saudi royal family, legal system, or government, and; C) Any religion, religious tradition, religious figure, or religious practice.”
Although Okatsuka redacted the fee from the offer email, other details revealed she was offered a 60-75 minute set at a venue that seats 600-900. And while the festival would provide two hotel rooms and local transportation, her team would be responsible for flights. She would have also been expected to promote the gig on social media.
Fellow comic Leslie Liao commented on Okatsuka’s post, “I said no too. You inspired me (I got the offer after we talked about it). You were right.”
Mike Birbiglia wrote, “I also passed. Respect to Atsuko and Shane [Gillis] and others for passing.”
Gillis also said on his Secret Podcast that he turned down a “significant bag” for an appearance at the festival, even after they doubled their offer. “I took a principled stand. You don’t 9/11 your friends,” he said.
Other comedians have recently called out their peers who have agreed to perform, noting Saudi officials’ roles in 9/11 and the 2018 assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as well as the human rights abuses committed by Saudi minister of entertainment, Turki Al-Sheikh, who is behind the festival.
Human Rights Watch researcher Joey Shea explained to CBS News, “The Saudi government has invested billions into high profile entertainment events like these in a deliberate effort to whitewash the country’s human rights record and deflect from the egregious abuses that continue to happen inside of the country.
“These investments are a part of the broader strategy to… have people thinking about a comedy event, for example, rather than the soaring number of executions that are happening inside of the country,” added Shea.
Since Deadline exclusively announced the initial lineup in July, the Riyadh Comedy Festival has grown to include Kevin Hart, Aziz Ansari, Hannibal Buress, Bill Burr, Dave Chappelle, Louis C.K., Whitney Cummings, Pete Davidson, Zarna Garg, Gabriel Iglesias, Jim Jefferies, Jo Koy, Bobby Lee, Jeff Ross, Andrew Santino, Tom Segura, Chris Tucker and more.
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