David Cross Rips Burr, Chappelle, Louis CK and Other Comedians Performing in Riyadh

While several comedians have admitted they declined the giant paycheck to attend the Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia this week (Stavros Halkias, Mike Birbiglia, Shane Gillis), and Marc Maron even mocked those attending, David Cross has unleashed a torrent of anger in a statement he released taking those who accepted the Saudi “blood money” to task, conceding that he was not invited but “that there’s not enough money for me to help these depraved, awful people put a ‘fun face’ on their crimes against humanity.”

“I am disgusted, and deeply disappointed in this whole gross thing. That people I admire, with unarguable talent, would condone this totalitarian fiefdom for … what, a fourth house? A boat? More sneakers?” Cross wrote in a statement.

We can never again take seriously anything these comedians complain about (unless it’s complaining that we don’t support enough torture and mass executions of journalists and LGBQT peace activists here in the states, or that we don’t terrorize enough Americans by flying planes into our buildings). I mean that’s it; you have a funny bit about how you don’t like Yankee Candles or airport lounges? Okay great, but you’re cool with murder and/or the public caning of women who were raped, and by having the audacity to be raped, were guilty of “engaging in adultery”? Got any bits on that?

These are some of my HEROES! Now look, some of you folks don’t stand for anything so you don’t have any credibility to lose, but my god, Dave and Louie and Bill, and Jim? Clearly you guys don’t give a sh** about what the rest of us think, but how can any of us take any of you seriously ever again? All of your bitching about “cancel culture” and “freedom of speech” and all that sh**? Done. You don’t get to talk about it ever again. By now we’ve all seen the contract you had to sign.

The contract in question has been circulating, thanks to comedian Atsuko Okatsuka, who not only declined to attend but also published the contract that performers were asked to sign. This contract essentially forbade comedians from making fun of Saudi Arabia, the royal family, the Saudi government, or any religious figures or practices.

Cross also added that he doesn’t “understand how being rich can make someone such a whore” and noted that the “hypocrisy” of the comedians “will never not be noted.”

And that, folks, is what needed to be said. I really think that all these performers could take the huge check, quietly perform, and return with little notice. Thankfully, they’re facing a ton of backlash. And they’re not being cancelled; they’re being called out. It’s going to be hard not to think less of these comedians (or less than we already think about some of them). And they will all try to rationalize it by saying that America or Israel is just as bad, but again, there is a distinction. Comedians performing in America or Israel are not taking money directly from those governments. Here, the money flows directly from the Crown Prince with the specific purpose of whitewashing his and his country’s human rights abuses.