The main American comedians who will be presented in Saudi Arabia urged not to help cover up

Some of the largest American names in comedy have registered to act in a festival in Saudi Arabiaand they are urged to speak against the country Human Rights Abuse -And not being “complicit in covering the abuses of a repressive regime,” by the human rights surveillance organization based in the United States.

Saudi Arabia will be the host of the Riad Comedy Festival, which the organizers say it will be the “largest comedy festival in the world”, from September 26 to October 9. Some of the most popular comedians in North America, together with the comics of Europe and other places, appear in the bill, including Dave Chapelle, including Dave Chapelle, Kevin Hart and Bill Burr.

The Festival will be the last of a series of sporting and cultural events organized by the Saudi Arabia government that critics say they are equivalent to a effort to obscure the country’s reputation For unbridled human rights abuses.

“The Saudi government has invested billions in high -profile entertainment events such as these in a deliberate effort to bleach the country’s human rights registry and divert from the atrocious abuses that continue to happen within the country,” said Woran Rights Watch researcher Joey Shea, to News themezone. “These investments are part of the broader strategy to … make people think of a comedy event, for example, instead of the Number of high executions that are happening within the country. “

HRW specifically pointed out the state execution of the Turki Al-Jjosser journalist, who was killed in June after seven years of detention after being identified as the author of several anonymous tweets that criticize the Saudi royal family.

Al-Jjser had been convicted of terrorism and high betrayal on the basis of the positions he was accused of authorizing, according to UNESCO General Audrey Azoulay. Reporters without borders, an organization that works to protect journalists, described the charges against him as “false.”

“This execution of a journalist advanced to very few international criticisms and this is clearly the result of these billions that had been invested in the country’s laundering strategy,” said Shea.

When asked if they believed that comedians could freely count jokes at the festival, the HRW researcher predicted that the organizers would bring clear red lines to avoid any criticism of the heir prince Mohammad Bin Salman, who has already assumed the position of the highly conservative Islamic kingdom, as well as their policies and the broader Rago family.

Shea asked the high -profile artists who attended the event, whose financing comes from the Saudi Government’s general entertainment authority, to mitigate the positive effect that their presence in the country’s reputation could have for human rights abuses, even “talk about abuse.”

Tom Dillon, one of the comedians scheduled to act at the Riyadh Festival, said in his podcast that he was paid $ 315,000 for a single show, and that some of his most famous colleagues would receive around $ 1.6 million for their appearances.

News themezone has contacted the publicists representing the invoiced attendees Bill Burr, Mark Normand, Kevin Hart, Sebastian Maniscalco, Dave Chapelle, Louis CK, Whitney Cumming, Tom Segura, Andrew Schulz and Jim Jeffries, but has not received any comments about his expected appearance in Arabia Saudi.

News themezone asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia to comment on HRW’s claims, but has not received an answer.

One of the highest profile cases of the supposed efforts of the Saudi to change their image occurred in 2021, with the launch of Liv Golf, a golf league that saw experienced professional defects of the famous PGA Tour in exchange for highly profitable contracts.

The critics accused the golfers of helping the Saudi government to “deport” their reputation, only three years after the Washington Post journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, an open critic of the county leadership, was brutally killed within a Saudi diplomatic office in Istanbul, Turkey.

TO CIA report concluded With a half -to -high degree of confidence that the murder was probably carried out in the orders of Bin Salman.

In 2019 Interview with the 60 minutes of NewsBin Salman denied ordering Khashoggi’s murder, but said he was responsible for it.

• Louis CK
• Human Rights Clock
• Mohammed Bin Salman
• Human Rights
• Saudi Arabia
• Dave Chappelle
• Kevin Hart