Aziz Ansari’s attempts to blunt criticism over his performance at a controversial comedy festival held in Saudi Arabia appear to have backfired.
The 42-year-old comedian and filmmaker signaled Tuesday on Jimmy Kimmel Live that he planned to donate a portion to his fee from performing at the Riyadh Comedy Festival to organizations including Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders.
But on Thursday, Human Rights Watch announced that it ‘cannot accept’ Ansari’s donation, nor donations from any other comedians who performed at the festival and ‘generously offered to donate part of their performance fees,’ according to a statement to Variety.
‘But while we cannot accept, it is not too late for [the comedians] to call for the release of detained Saudi activists,’ said Joey Shea, a Human Rights Watch researcher focused on Saudi Arabia.Â
‘Human Rights Watch didn’t call for comedians to boycott the Riyadh Comedy Festival, but simply asked them to express their support for free speech by urging the release of Saudi activists unjustly imprisoned,’ she added.
Representatives for Aziz Ansari have yet to respond to the Daily Mail’s request for comment.
Aziz Ansari’s plans to donate part of his fee from a controversial comedy festival in Saudi Arabia to a human rights organization were denied on Thursday; pictured October 2 in London
After performing at the Riyadh Comedy Festival, Ansari, 42, said he would donate part of his fee to Human Rights Watch, but the organization said Thursday it ‘cannot accept’ his money in a statement to Variety; an installation at the Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia is pictured
Reporters Without Borders was also contacted for comment after Ansari expressed plans to donate part of his fees to the organization, but it has not yet responded.
In addition to Ansari, the comedian Jessica Kirson has expressed plans to donate her entire fee from the Riyadh Comedy Festival to an unnamed human rights organization.
Kirson, who is openly gay, said in a statement: ‘I hoped that this could help LGBTQ+ people in Saudi Arabia feel seen and valued. I am grateful that I was able to do precisely that — to my knowledge, I am the first openly gay comic to talk about it on stage in Saudi Arabia. I received messages from attendees sharing how much it meant to them to participate in a gay-affirming event. At the same time, I deeply regret participating under the auspices of the Saudi government.’
Human Rights Watch’s Saudi Arabia researcher Shea previously said in September that ‘Comedians receiving hefty sums from Saudi authorities shouldn’t be silent on prohibited topics in Saudi like human rights or free speech.
‘Everyone performing in Riyadh should use this high-profile opportunity to call for the release of detained Saudi activists,’ she added.
Arvind Ganesan, the head of the economic justice and rights division overseer of fundraising policies for Human Rights Watch, said in a statement to Variety that the organization was ‘very mindful of our independence and objectivity’ and would therefore not be able to accept either direct government funding, or indirect funding in the form of donations from Riyadh Comedy Festival performers, as their fees came directly from Saudia Arabia.Â
He added that Human Rights Watch is also ‘very careful’ about the private funding that it accepts.
‘We have been critical of the comedians, including Mr. Ansari, who are performing in Saudi Arabia [because of] the government’s human rights record,’ Ganesan continued.Â
HRW said it would reject Ansari’s donation so as to avoid the impression that it had been influenced by Saudi Arabia, as Riyadh Comedy Festival performers were paid directly by the government
HRW instead called on the performers — include Pete Davidson, Dave Chappelle, Louis CK, Bill Burr and Kevin Hart — to ‘call for the release of detained Saudi activists’
Comedian Marc Maron previously criticized his colleagues, joking that festival was ‘From the folks that brought you 9/11’; pictured in 2023 in LA
David Cross berated them in an open letter and wondered why they would ‘condone this totalitarian fiefdom for … what, a fourth house? A boat? More sneakers?’; pictured in 2016 in NYC
He said that taking their money ‘could create the perception that somehow we compromised our independence after the fact.’Â
However, Ganesan clarified that he was not aware of Human Rights Watch receiving donations or been contacted by any of the Riyadh Comedy Festival performs.
The festival featured performances from numerous high-profile comics, including Pete Davidson, Dave Chappelle, Louis CK, Kevin Hart, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Chris Tucker and more.
Other popular comedians, including Marc Maron and David Cross, publicly denounced the performers on the bill.
‘From the folks that brought you 9/11. Two weeks of laughter in the desert, don’t miss it!’ Maron joked in an Instagram video after the lineup was announced. ‘The same guy that’s gonna pay them is the same guy that paid that guy to bone-saw Jamal Khashoggi and put him in a f***ing suitcase. But don’t let that stop the yucks, it’s gonna be a good time!’
Cross shared an open letter on his website and social media accounts, writing, ‘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?’
The setback for Ansari’s post-performance plans comes in the wake of a mildly critical interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Tuesday.
Ansari was on the show to promote his new comedy Good Fortune, which he stars in with Keanu Reeves, Seth Rogen, Sandra Oh and Keke Palmer.
The setback for Ansari’s post-performance plans comes in the wake of a mildly critical interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Tuesday. ‘It’s a pretty brutal regime,’ Kimmel said. ‘They’ve done a lot of horrible, horrible things’; pictured on Jimmy Kimmel Live
But Ansari said he had given his performance ‘a lot of thought,’ and he ultimately decided that ‘A comedy festival felt like something that’s pushing things to be more open and to push a dialogue’; pictured on Jimmy Kimmel Live
However, Kimmel pressed him about his decision to perform in Saudi Arabia.
‘It’s a pretty brutal regime,’ Kimmel reminded Ansari. ‘They’ve done a lot of horrible, horrible things.’
But Ansari said he had given his performance ‘a lot of thought,’ and he ultimately decided that ‘A comedy festival felt like something that’s pushing things to be more open and to push a dialogue.
‘You kind of have to make a choice of whether you’re going to isolate or engage. For me, especially being me and looking the way I do and being from a Muslim background, it felt like something I should be a part of,’ he said.
