Human Rights Watch declines donations from comedians who performed at Riyadh Comedy Festival

Human Rights Watch said on Thursday it will not accept donations from comedians who performed at the Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia.

The human rights organization told Variety that it “cannot accept” donations from comedians like Aziz Ansari and others who performed.

“But while we cannot accept, it is not too late for them to call for the release of detained Saudi activists,” Joey Shea, Saudi Arabia researcher at Human Rights Watch, told Variety.

“Human Rights Watch didn’t call for comedians to boycott the Riyadh Comedy Festival, but simply asked them to express their support for free speech by urging the release of Saudi activists unjustly imprisoned,” Shea said.

The Hill has reached out to Human Rights Watch for comment.

Shea brought attention to the Saudi government sponsoring the comedy festival. Last month, Shea also told Variety about the country’s human rights record and pointed to the 2018 murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

“Comedians receiving hefty sums from Saudi authorities shouldn’t be silent on prohibited topics in Saudi like human rights or free speech,” Shea said in September. “Everyone performing in Riyadh should use this high-profile opportunity to call for the release of detained Saudi activists.”

Ansari faced pushback from late night host Jimmy Kimmel on Tuesday, when Ansari was reminded that Saudi Arabia is “a pretty brutal regime,” Kimmel said.

“They’ve done a lot of horrible, horrible things,” he continued.

Ansari “put a lot of thought” into going, he said. The comedian said he hoped that going would “push a dialogue.”

“You kind of have to make a choice of whether you’re going to isolate or engage,” Ansari said. “For me, especially being me and looking the way I do and being from a Muslim background, it felt like something I should be a part of.”

The Riyadh Comedy Festival included a slew of comedians along with Ansari, such as Bill Burr, Dave Chapelle, Hannibal Buress, Pete Davidson, Jo Koy, Gabriel Iglesias and Jeff Ross, among several others. The festival started Sept. 26 and ended Thursday.

A number of comedians, including Marc Maron and Shane Gillis, spoke out against the performance.