Bill Burr doesn’t “give a f— what all these phony f—ing people are saying” about his choice to perform at Saudi Arabia’s state-sponsored Riyadh Comedy Festival.
“All of these sanctimonious c—s out there—if you actually give a f— about those people and how they’re living over there, there’s gonna have to be these types of things to pull them in,” Burr said Sunday night during a special live recording of Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
Burr was one of several American comedians to perform at the festival, which was headlined by Dave Chappelle and included sets from Pete Davidson, Kevin Hart, Aziz Ansari, and more. Each comic has taken a lot of heat since the lineup was announced, with Marc Maron quipping they were performing for “the folks that brought you 9/11.” Burr has been steadily undeterred, though he seemed to grow impatient with critics on Sunday.
“The general consensus is, ‘How dare you go to that place and make those oppressed people laugh, you f—ing 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 Sunday of the social media complaints he’d seen. “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,” he continued.
Besides Maron, who called out the participating comedians for being paid by “the same guy that paid that guy to bone-saw Jamal Khashoggi and put him in a f–king suitcase” to perform at the festival, more comedians—like Arrested Development star David Cross—also expressed their “disappointment and disgust” in Riyadh’s American performers.
Burr said Sunday he’s received “the most amount of shit” for performing—perhaps because of his reputation as someone willing to criticize his fellow “anti-woke” comedians. He previously addressed the backlash on his podcast last week, where he offered the softer counterpoint that performing the festival was a “mind-blowing experience” that will “lead to a lot of positive things.”
By Sunday, he said, he had had enough of the backlash and was ready to go tit for tat with critics. And he doesn’t care if it affects his career. “I really don’t give a f—,” he told O’Brien, “and if it affects my career, I’ve been to LAX enough in my life, I’ll f—ing sit home for a little bit. I will actually tell you LAX is slightly sadder than Saudi Arabia.”
Burr is likely more than able to afford to stay home awhile. While most comedians haven’t revealed their payouts for performing at Riyadh, as checks for just one stand-up set were reportedly between $375,000 and $1.6 million.
Burr also pushed back on the idea that America was any better than Saudi Arabia, citing Donald Trump’s policies.
“We’re moving towards them,” he said, “Jesus Christ, we’re f—ing grabbing moms and dads and sticking ’em in a van for making illegally made f—ing tacos to go to alligator Alcatraz,” he said referencing ICE’s raids. “It’s insane. And someday they’re gonna be out of brown people to put in those vans, they’re still gonna have the vans, so you shouldn’t be feeling comfortable about it. Thinking that you’re not gonna be in it.”
Ansari made similar comments to Jimmy Kimmel when the host grilled him about his Saudi set Monday night.
Ultimately, Burr concluded, performing at Riyadh was “necessary” and “felt right afterward.” He added, “I vibed with them and they were funny. F—, they were funny f—ing people. I don’t know what to tell you. I had a good time.”
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