(The Hill) – Several U.S. comedians are blasting the star-studded Riyadh Comedy Festival over Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses. 

The festival, which kicked off on Friday, features prominent stand-up comedians, including Bill Burr, Dave Chappelle and others. But the event has drawn blowback from other comedians and Human Rights Watch, which said this week that Riyadh is using the occasion to “deflect attention from its brutal repression of free speech and other pervasive human rights violations.” 

“Participating comedians, to avoid contributing to laundering the Saudi government’s reputation, should use the comedy festival to publicly urge Saudi authorities to free unjustly detained Saudi dissidents, journalists and human rights activists,” Human Rights Watch said in a press release on Tuesday. 

Comedians, including Marc Maron, called out the event, referencing Saudi Arabia’s alleged role in the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. 

“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.’ 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 f—— suitcase,” Maron said during a recent performance. “But don’t let that stop the yucks, it’s gonna be a good time!”

“Full disclosure: I was not asked to perform at the Riyadh Comedy Festival, so it’s kind of easy for me to take the high road on this one,” he added. “Easy to maintain your integrity when no one’s offering to buy it out.”

Stand-up comedian Shane Gillis revealed that he turned down the invitation to perform at the festival, which is slated to go until Oct. 9. Gillis added that the Saudi officials “doubled the bag.” 

“It was a significant bag,” the former “Saturday Night Live” cast member said during his appearance on the “Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast” about the compensation.

“I took a principled stand,” Gillis said, later adding, “You don’t 9/11 your friends.” 

Another comedian, Tim Dillon, was scheduled to perform at the festival, but was terminated after joking about Saudi Arabia’s human rights record on his podcast, Human Rights Watch noted. 

“The seventh anniversary of Jamal Khashoggi’s brutal murder is no laughing matter, and comedians receiving hefty sums from Saudi authorities shouldn’t be silent on prohibited topics in Saudi like human rights or free speech,” Joey Shea, the Saudi Arabia researcher at Human Rights Watch said in a statement.

“Everyone performing in Riyadh should use this high-profile opportunity to call for the release of detained Saudi activists,” Shea added.