Whitney Cummings has heard the criticisms for performing at the controversial Riyadh Comedy Festival, which the comedian has dismissed as “just racism.”
Cummings spoke up on her Good for You podcast, where she responded to the ongoing disapproval being leveled at comedians like herself who traveled to Saudi Arabia for the fest.
“I guess I’m this weirdo. I don’t operate under, you know, the idea that every government and their people are the same,” she said. “Like, you think that the people of Saudi Arabia and the Saudi government all share [the same values]? So you also believe that the Chinese government and the Chinese people are exactly the same? It’s just racism. I think it took me a second, because when people are going like, ‘You’re doing something unethical,’ I’m like, ‘Oh, these must be ethical people, let me listen.’ And then you’re like, ‘Oh no, you’re just racist.’ But these are also, by the way, the same people that would go like, ‘Trump’s not my president! I am nothing like our government.’ But other countries are?”
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Cummings is the latest in a line of comedians who’ve defended their decision to perform at the Riyadh Comedy Festival. Aziz Ansari faced off against Jimmy Kimmel on his late-night talk show about it recently, saying that while it’s “a complicated issue,” he still wanted to perform, and that “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.”
Bill Burr popped up on a live taping of the Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast to say that he believes the controversy isn’t genuine, and is being inflamed by bots.
While comedian Jessica Kirson has apologized for her appearance at the fest, Louis C.K. defended his decision to perform there, calling it “a good opportunity.”
Dave Chappelle used his set at the event to say that “it’s easier to talk here than it is in America.”
Marc Maron, Shane Gillis and Zach Woods have all spoken out against the comics who chose to participate in the comedy festival.
