Amy Poehler Is Getting Backlash For Inviting A Controversial Guest On Her Podcast
Leslie Knope would never do it, but it seems that Amy Pohler wanted to.
The beloved “Saturday Night Live” alum is taking a lot of heat from her fans for inviting her former “Parks and Recreation” co-star and comedian. Aziz Ansari Continue with your podcast.
NBC via Getty Images
“Everyone loves the podcast, so when the comments look like they do now you know something is up,” one observed. YouTube commenter below Tuesday’s episode from Poehler’s “Good Hang” podcast.
Ansari not only accused of sexual misconduct in 2018but he (and other big-name comedians like Pete Davidson, Dave Chappelle, Kevin Hart, Bill Burr and Louis CK) are receiving an avalanche of backlash for performing on Saudi Arabia‘s Riyadh Comedy Festival earlier this month.
Human rights monitoring He warned late last month that the state-sponsored event was an attempt to “divert attention” from the “brutal repression of freedom of expression and other widespread violations of human rights” in the country. He also noted that the festival coincided with the seventh anniversary of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at a Saudi consulate.
YASIN AKGUL via Getty Images
While it’s unclear whether the podcast episode was recorded before or after Ansari performed in Saudi Arabia, it’s also worth wondering why “Good Hang” decided to release this particular episode now.
News reached out to Poehler and The Ringer, who help produce “Good Hang,” for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Poehler did not mention any of Ansari’s controversies during her appearance on her podcast. Instead, the two had a light and fun conversation about their time on “Parks & Rec,” Keanu Reeves and the comedian’s favorite foods.
Kevin Mazur via Getty Images
YouTube fans expressed their outrage in the comments section.
“I’m a big fan of reenactment, but I refuse to support any celebrity involved in the Riyadh affair,” said one commenter.
“Straight to jail for this guys. See you next episode,” said another.
“No, but thanks. I’m not supporting any of the Riyadh squat,” another commenter chimed in. “And I’m disappointed with this co-signing from him. I hope there’s some kind of questioning of his morals about this, but I guess it’s not a good trick then. Why ruin the good vibe with questions supporting dictators and murderers?”
“Proud of the comments that hold people accountable,” said another.
Later instagramfans were also critical.
“How was Saudi Arabia?” one user asked.
“Oh Amy, this was a bad choice,” said another user.
“And just like that, the streak of perfect guests has officially come to an end,” one fan lamented.
“And now he supports dictators who kill journalists,” echoed another user.
Although Poehler remained relaxed with Ansari, Jimmy Kimmel doesn’t.
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When Ansari appeared on his show last week to promote his directorial debut, “Good Fortune,” Kimmel asked him why he decided to participate in the Riyadh comedy festival.
“I’m glad you asked, because it’s something I’ve thought about a lot,” Ansari explained, noting that he reached out to his aunt, who lived there for some time. “She said, ‘There are people there who don’t agree with the things the government is doing, and to attribute the worst behavior of the government to those people, that’s not fair.’ Just like there are people in America who don’t agree with the things the government is doing.”
Kimmel agreed that things are not all rainbows and sunshine in the United States right now, but noted that in Saudi Arabia “a journalist was murdered.”
“These are not good people there,” Kimmel said. “Did you specifically deal with those people?”
“I was just there to put on a show for the people,” Ansari responded. “I talked to my wife about this before I went, and she said, ‘Whenever you have repressive societies like this, they try to keep things out, whether it’s rock and roll music or jeans, because that makes people curious about outside ideas and values. And this is a very young country, like half the country is under 25, and things can really change.’ And to me, a comedy festival seemed like something that pushed things to be more open and promote dialogue.”
He added: “You kind of have to choose whether you’re going to isolate yourself or get involved. For me, especially being me and what I look like and being from a Muslim background, it felt like something I should be a part of. And I hope it pushes things in a positive direction.”
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Ansari said he told his team before deciding to do the work that “part of the fee should go to supporting causes that support press freedom and human rights,” and then mentioned giving some of the funds to Human Rights Watch.
“Aziz Ansari and other comedians have generously offered to donate part of their performance fees to human rights groups like Human Rights Watch.” the organization said in a statement last week. “But although we cannot accept it, it is not too late for them to call for the release of detained Saudi activists.”