Out comedian apologizes for performing at Saudi Arabian comedy festival

Out comedian Jessica Kirson issued a public apology this past Friday for her recent performance at the Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia.

In a statement shared with The Hollywood Reporter , Kirson expressed her “sincere regret” for having performed at the event on September 29, and said she has “donated the entirety” of what she was paid to “a human rights organization.”  

Kirson is one of the over 50 comedians — including Dave Chappelle, Louis C.K., Bill Burr, Kevin Hart, Pete Davidson, Aziz Ansari, and Whitney Cummings — who have drawn criticism over the past week for their participation in the festival, which began on September 26 and runs through October 9.

In a September 23 press release, Human Rights Watch described the festival as part of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s government’s aggressive campaign to launder the country’s image and attract foreign investors and tourists. The organization noted that the festival coincides with the seventh anniversary of the state-sponsored death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and comes just months after the June 14 execution of journalist Turki al-Jasser, likely for his reporting on the Saudi royal family.

Human Rights Watch called on participating comedians to use their Riyadh Comedy Festival sets “to publicly urge Saudi authorities to free unjustly detained Saudi dissidents, journalists, and human rights activists.” But, the organization said, representatives and management of a group of performers did not respond to a September 19 request for a meeting about Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses.

A Saudi Arabia researcher at Human Rights Watch recently told the BBC that he had not seen a single performer address these issues either at the festival or on social media. According to THR , Kirson is so far the only performer to have released an apology for her participation in the festival.

Comedians at the festival are apparently contractually banned from performing 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,” according to a screenshot of the festival contract posted by comedian Atsuko Okatsuka on September 26.

Okatsuka turned down the offer to perform at the festival, and along with comedy stars David Cross and Marc Maron, has been one of the most vocal in condemning their fellow comics’ participation in the event. Okatsuka seemed to take a shot directly at comedians like Chappelle and Louis C.K., who have both railed against so-called “cancel culture,” when she wrote on Threads that “A lot of the ‘you can’t say anything anymore!’ Comedians are doing the festival” while agreeing “to adhere to censorship rules about the types of jokes they can make.” (In his Riyadh set, Chappelle reportedly suggested that comedians have greater freedom to speak in Saudi Arabia than in the U.S.)

In a recent open letter about the festival, Cross specifically referenced the Saudi government’s brutal treatment of LGBTQ+ people — same-sex sexual activity is punishable by death in the country — and women, as well as its executions of journalists and alleged involvement in the September 11, 2001, terror attacks on the U.S.

In her October 3 statement, Kirson wrote that her decision to perform at the Riyadh Comedy Festival has “weighed heavily on my heart ever since.”

“[I’d] like to express my sincere regret for having performed under a government that continues to violate fundamental human rights,” she wrote, according to THR.

Explaining her decision, Kirson wrote that she was surprised, as an openly gay performer, to have been invited to participate in the festival, and that she specifically requested a guarantee that she “could be openly out as a lesbian on stage and perform gay material.”

“I hoped that this could help LGBTQ+ people in Saudi Arabia feel seen and valued,” she continued. “I am grateful that I was able to do precisely that — to my knowledge, I am the first openly gay comic to talk about it on stage in Saudi Arabia. I received messages from attendees sharing how much it meant to them to participate in a gay-affirming event.”

According to a recent report from the BBC , stand-up sets at the festival that included “jokes about gay and trans people” have been well-received. One woman who attended Chappelle’s performance told the outlet that the anti-trans comic’s set included “lots of jokes about trans people,” and that the response to Chappelle and Burr’s shows was “amazing.”

At the same time, THR reports, Kirson’s fans took to her Instagram with comments expressing their disappointment in her participation in the event and demanding an explanation.

“I deeply regret participating under the auspices of the Saudi government,” Kirson wrote in her statement, adding that she has donated her entire performance fee to an unspecified human rights organization “because I want that money to go to an organization that can help combat these severe issues.”

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