It Could Happen Here: "The Riyadh Comedy Festival"

Date: October 7, 2025
Hosts: Garrison Davis, Robert Evans, Mia Wong, James Stout

Overview

This episode dives into the controversy around the Riyadh Comedy Festival, a star-studded standup event in Saudi Arabia. The Cool Zone crew scrutinizes Western comedians, including high-profile names, who accepted massive sums to perform for a regime notorious for human rights violations. They discuss the broader implications around "sportswashing"/"artswashing" and highlight how such events are used by authoritarians to launder their reputation for a global audience, while much of the Western media response is uninformed or misfocused.

Major Discussion Points

1. The Comedy Festival Backlash

Timestamps: 01:11–05:36

• The festival features top American and European comedians, many earning up to $1.6 million for a single performance.
• Dave Chappelle, Bill Burr, Aziz Ansari, Louis C.K., Mo Amer, and Pete Davidson are mentioned as participants.
• Some, like Shane Gillis, initially accepted but later withdrew.
• The festival is overseen by Turki Al Sheikh, chair of Saudi’s General Entertainment Authority, noted for his ties to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and for being the namesake of a "torture wing" in Al Hayr prison.

Garrison Davis (02:00):
"We will be getting paid hundreds of thousands or over a million dollars to pretend that the Saudi regime does not execute dissidents, reporters, civil rights activists... and doesn't run a torture prison."

Robert Evans (02:46):
"Comrade Shane Gillis declined the offer... You get a variety of responses from people who were invited to this fucking thing."

2. Morality and Complicity: Comedy as Whitewashing

Timestamps: 05:36–08:46

• The hosts distinguish performing “in a country” from performing "at the behest of" an authoritarian regime, especially when the government directly benefits.
• Specific attention to how comedians become part of a government PR strategy: "sportswashing" and "artswashing" their international image.

Garrison Davis (06:47):
"Tim Dillon went on and, like, talked about this on a podcast, talked about, like, why he agreed to do it... He said that he was paid $375,000 for one performance."

• The hosts play a clip of Tim Dillon making flippant remarks about slavery in Saudi Arabia, followed by harsh critique:

Tim Dillon (07:47):
"So what? They have slaves. So what, my friend?... I imagine the slaves in those countries are good at what they do."

Garrison Davis (08:24):
"That's one of the most off putting things I've ever seen... And it got him fired from the show."

3. Hypocrisy and Historical Parallels

Timestamps: 11:03–15:12

• Deep criticism for comics like Bill Burr, who previously called out celebrities for entertaining dictators, but now take similar gigs.

Garrison Davis (11:14):
“Bill Burr in 2010: She [Beyonce] takes a million bucks to go sing at some private party for Gaddafi’s kid... That’s the hypocrisy... These celebrities, they’ll take any gig if the check’s big enough. ...Yes, Bill, it is."

• Discussion of rationalizations by performers:

Garrison Davis (12:22):
"Bill's response... the royals loved the show... The comedians that I've been talking to are saying, 'You can feel that the audience wanted it.'"

• They stress that this isn’t a critique of performing in general in “bad countries,” but of participating in direct regime whitewashing.

Garrison Davis (15:12):
"There's an argument for like, well, people in countries with fucked up governments deserve to laugh. That doesn't mean you have to take the money from their fucked up government and say nice things about their fucked up government..."

4. The Bigger Picture: Saudi "Sportswashing"

Timestamps: 19:43–23:26

• Saudi Arabia’s strategy involves not just entertainment but also global sports (e.g., WWE, esports, soccer), all funded by government wealth to normalize the regime and distract from ongoing atrocities.
• The “genius,” per the panel, is that Western entertainment journalists focus on narrow issues (like individual murdered journalists), missing broader crimes:
  • Use of Sudanese child soldiers in Yemen
  • Airstrikes on civilians (e.g., school buses, funerals)
  • Genocide involvement and ongoing war crimes

Expert Panelist (19:43):
"The genius... was that they were able to control the backlash because they ensured the backlash... would be done by sports journalists, entertainment journalists who don't know anything about the Saudis... Even focusing on the Saudis' domestic human rights record is a victory for the Saudis because it means that nobody’s talking about... the Sudanese child soldiers that they were deploying in their war in Yemen..."

• Calls for more informed journalism, specifically on Yemen, rather than superficial coverage.

5. Media and Social Implications

Timestamps: 23:44–24:27

• Several media outlets have covered the scandal, but the hosts are skeptical it will affect major careers, though embarrassment and shaming is expected.
• Hope is expressed that this attention will at least force uncomfortable questions and increased scrutiny.

Garrison Davis (24:27):
"It's a shameful thing to do. It's a bummer. I wish people had not made these choices because, man, it's depressing."

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Motivations:
  "If the check's big enough... where's my private jet? It's ridiculous. This sucks. Yes, Bill, it is." (Garrison Davis quoting Bill Burr, 11:14)

• On Saudi "Sportswashing":
  "This has been the really successful thing about the Saudis specifically targeting sports... the people covering this do not know anything about Saudi Arabia." (Expert Panelist, 21:56)

• On Moral Lines:
  "Taking money directly from the hands of the guy with the torture prison, I think that crosses a line." (Garrison Davis, 16:32)

• On the difference between performance & complicity:
  "The problem is that you're performing at the behest of the Saudi government, at the behest of the regime." (Garrison Davis, 14:52)

Memorable Moments

• Tim Dillon slavery exchange (07:47):
  A shocking flippant defense of performing in a regime with open slavery — used by the hosts to illustrate the deep cynicism or amorality at play.
• Bill Burr’s 2010 quote (11:14):
  Used to highlight hypocrisy and the erosion of legacy.
• Discussion of Pete Davidson, whose father died in 9/11 (16:32):
  "It should have crossed a line for Pete Davidson, whose dad died in 9/11, but apparently not."
• Satirical sign-off (24:36):
  The hosts joke about “headlining” at a future Hungarian regime comedy fest, lampooning the issue’s absurdity and contemporary resonance.

Episode Structure & Timestamps

| Time | Segment/Point of Discussion | |----------|---------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:11 | Introduction from Riyadh Comedy Festival | | 01:27 | Naming headliners, highlighting the payday | | 02:46 | Shane Gillis and performer responses | | 04:00–07:42 | Tim Dillon's offer and justification | | 11:03 | Bill Burr's past quote and present hypocrisy | | 14:52 | Distinction: performing in a country vs. for a regime | | 16:32 | Kevin Hart and TikTok praise of Saudi royalty | | 19:43 | Saudi sportswashing & PR strategy analysis | | 21:56 | The media's superficial focus | | 23:44 | Coverage by Guardian, Hollywood Reporter | | 24:27 | Concluding remarks – shame, legacy, moral lines | | 24:36 | Satirical sign-off about Hungary |

Tone & Takeaway

The hosts’ tone veers between incredulous, angry, satirical, and deeply critical, with moments of grim humor. Their key insight: what’s at stake is not simply the individual moral failing of comedians, but a larger pattern by which authoritarian regimes co-opt Western culture to rebrand themselves — and the credulous, shallow response from much Western media gives cover to far more insidious crimes.

For listeners:
This episode contextualizes a trending headline within decades of repression, foreign policy, and global propaganda—reminding us how easily entertainment gets weaponized by the powerful, and how the stakes are far more serious than the punchlines.