Jimmy Kimmel Questions Aziz Ansari Over Saudi Arabia Comedy Gig

Aziz Ansari found himself answering some hard questions from Jimmy Kimmel this week, following his appearance at the Riyadh Comedy Festival, a government-supported comedy festival in Saudi Arabia that has drawn heavy criticism from human rights groups and comedians alike. The first thing Kimmel said on Tuesday night’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! was that he wanted to address the criticism presented towards Ansari. Referencing Saudi Arabia’s history of repression, Kimmel went on to ask Ansari why he would participate in an event supported by what Kimmel labeled, “a pretty brutal regime.”

A Heated Exchange Over Comedy and Accountability

Kimmel did not pull punches in addressing Ansari about his appearance there as he pointed to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi as well as the broader international concern about Saudi Arabia’s human rights problems. “People are saying, ‘Why would you go over there and take their money?’” Kimmel said. Ansari replied with an acknowledgment of the weighty matter it concerned as he had consulted his aunt, a former resident of the country, before attending the event. “There’s people over here that don’t agree with the stuff that the government’s doing,” he said, ‘And to put the worst aspects of the government on those people, that’s not fair.’

Kimmel agreed with Ansari that there is a lot of moral ambiguity in the fact that the U.S., also, is not without’s its own moral misdeeds of its own, still however Kimmel did say it didn’t compare well, “They murdered a journalist.” “I am just there for the people,” Ansari said, explaining that his wife helped him to understand how restrictive regimes often attempt to suppress cultural imports like rock music or comedy because they do not want any open dialogue, which is to say the free exchange of ideas. “For me, a comedy festival felt like something that would be more free,” he said. “And I hope things become more fresh.”

To perform on that stage was personally meaningful to Ansari, who has a Muslim background and who has long thought about questions of cultural identity in his work. “Especially as me, and the way that I look it seems like something that I should be proud of.”

Kimmel Examines the Interview and its Wider Implications

The interchange has evoked vigorous reactions on the net, especially as Ansari joins the list of top comedians—which includes Kevin Hart, Pete Davidson and Dave Chappelle—who have chosen to perform at the two-week festival. The backlash is increasing. In a recent stand-up set, Marc Maron called the festival “a propaganda tool.” Shane Gillis said, on his podcast, that the organizers of the festival offered him more money after he had first turned them down. And in a strong worded press release, Human Rights Watch accused Saudi Arabia of using the event as a “whitewash” of the current policy of repression that they have used against free expression and so-called dissent.

In addressing the issue again at Bloomberg’s Screentime event, Kimmel said that he knew that the question would provoke discussion, and that Ansari will understand that the question is going to be asked. He made clear to the audience that he wouldn’t have gone, but said also that it was not a black and white matter. Many Americans, he said, would not like to be judged because of the policies of their leaders when they travel abroad.

The criticism of the festival is indicative of the increased feeling in the comedy community it is felt of performing before governments accused of repression. Thus far, neither the Saudi Embassy nor the General Entertainment Authority of the nation has responded to requests for comment. Ansari also has not made any further comments about the festival. For the present time, the episode remains an illuminating tableau of the manner in which the lives of celebrities, their ethical considerations and the development of politics in the rest of the world are continuing to intersect in unexpected, but uncomfortable fashion.