Jimmy Kimmel grills Aziz Ansari about appearing at Saudi Arabian comedy fest

[Coventina]

Jimmy Kimmel pressed comedian Aziz Ansari this week about his decision to perform at Saudi Arabia's Riyadh Comedy Festival, with Kimmel calling the Saudi government a "pretty brutal regime" and questioning why Ansari would "take their money."

Held in Saudi Arabia's capital city, the Riyadh Comedy Festival began on Sept. 26 and ends Thursday. The event has hosted over 50 stand-up comedians from around the world, including big names such as Ansari, Kevin Hart, Pete Davidson and Dave Chappelle.

Those comedians have been facing backlash since accepting seemingly lucrative deals to perform in a country that has been criticized for its human rights violations.

In an interview on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on Tuesday night, Kimmel pressed Ansari about his decision to take the stage in Riyadh.

"People, a lot of comedians especially, are very upset, because the people who paid the comedians to come to this are not good people," Kimmel said. "It’s a pretty brutal regime. They’ve done a lot of horrible, horrible things."

https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/jimmy-kimmel-grills-aziz-ansari-controversial-appearance-saudi-arabian-rcna236620

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Ansari's reasons for doing it don't wash with me.

[newdeal2]

1. I watch a lot of Kimmel and never saw him grill someone this hard

Maybe ever. His interviews are usually pretty soft especially for entertainers.

[underpants]

2. $$$$$$. They got bought off. Even Shane Gillis (not a fan) said so

Shane Gillis also condemned the event on his podcast, and said that the festival organizers "doubled the bag" after he declined to perform.

[msongs]

3. they only get credit if their routines were about the saudis, saudi arabia, islam, treatment

of women etc.- all the topics they were prohibited from mentioning

[underpants]

4. Yeah and make it to the airport.

I doubt it.