"This is something that's become a big part of the news because people, a lot of comedians especially, are very upset because the people who paid the comedians to come to this are not good people. It's a pretty brutal regime. They've done a lot of horrible, horrible things... I'm curious as to why you decided to do that."
"I have an aunt that lived there for a while, and I talked to her about this, and she said, you know, there's people over there that don't agree with the stuff that the government's doing, and to ascribe like the worst behavior of the government onto those people, that's not fair,"
"I was just there to do a show for the people, and I talked to my wife about this before I went, and she said, you know, whenever there's repressive societies like this, they try to keep things out"
Aziz Ansari traveled to Saudi Arabia to perform at the Riyadh Comedy Festival, generating controversy and criticism from many comedians and observers. Jimmy Kimmel questioned the decision on television, citing Saudi human rights abuses and the 2018 murder of Jamal Khashoggi. Ansari said he carefully considered the invitation, consulted an aunt who lived in Saudi Arabia and his wife, and emphasized that many Saudi residents disagree with their government's actions. Ansari framed the visit as performing for ordinary people rather than endorsing the regime, highlighting a distinction between engaging audiences and supporting state policies.
Read at Consequence
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