Wanda Sykes Addresses Comedians Performing at Riyadh
In a recent interview, comedy legend Wanda Sykes opened up about the recent controversial Riyadh Comedy Festival.
According to Them, in the interview with Variety, Sykes touched on a wide-range of topics including the final season of her sitcom, The Upshaws on Netflix, her current comedy tour, as well as more politically loaded questions.
Sykes was asked her opinion on American comedians who had performed at the Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia. The festival has been under intense scrutiny, especially after Human Rights Watch claimed that it “deflect(ed) attention from (Saudi Arabia’s) brutal repression of free speech and other pervasive human rights violations.”
Addressing it, Skyes jokes “I’m sure it was a nice paycheck.” She adds, “I’m a Black gay woman. I have no business there; I wouldn’t feel comfortable with the treatment of the LGBT. But then again, I think Jessica (Kirson) went, and said she was gonna talk about being a lesbian. I guess that worked for her. But I wouldn’t.”
Fellow lesbian comic Jessica Kirson did apologize and publicly express “sincere regret” for performing at Riyadh, proceeding to donate the profits she made from the festival to a human rights organization. Kirson also tried to justify her performance, claiming to want to “help LGBTQ+ people in Saudi Arabia feel seen and valued.”
However, the damage was done, and virtually every celebrity who performed at the festival is receiving intense backlash from the public, especially considering that the event censored ridicule of the Saudi Arabian government, the royal family, legal system, and religious practices.
“To me, that’s anti-comedy,” Sykes claimed, “If you complain about cancel culture, but then you go and take money to not say things, I mean …” This points directly to Riyadh’s lineup, filled with comedians such as transphobe Dave Chappell and admitted sexual predator Louis CK, who infamously complain about “cancel culture” and how you “can’t say anything anymore.”
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