"Comedians looking to donate their fee from the Riyadh Comedy Festival, look elsewhere. A spokesperson for Human Rights Watch told it "cannot accept" money from comedians who have "generously offered to donate part of their performance fees." According to Arvind Ganesan, Human Rights Watch's head of economic justice and rights division, taking money from people who took money from the government of Saudi Arabia could "create the perception that somehow we compromised our independence after the fact.""
"Definitely Aziz Ansari's, who said on Jimmy Kimmel Live!that he'd be donating part of his appearance fee to the org (alongside Reporters Without Borders). And maybe Jessica Kirson's, who said she'd donate all her fee to a human rights org, but never said which one. HRW's Saudi Arabia researcher Joey Shea said that, while they can't take the comics' money, "it is not too late for them to call for the release of detained Saudi activists.""
Human Rights Watch declined donations from comedians who earned fees from the Riyadh Comedy Festival to avoid any perception of compromised independence. The organization judged that accepting funds from individuals who received money from the Saudi government could create such a perception. Aziz Ansari pledged to donate part of his appearance fee to Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders. Jessica Kirson offered to donate her full fee to a human rights organization without specifying which one. Human Rights Watch recommended that performers call for the release of detained Saudi activists and urged use of the platform to demand those releases.
Read at Vulture
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]