As late night talk show hosts are being pulled from the airwaves —then reinstated —freedom of speech is also a hot topic abroad. The two-week Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia, which its organizers call the “world’s largest comedy festival,” kicked off September 26 with Kevin Hart, Pete Davidson, Aziz Ansari , and more leading comics set to perform.

But even as some of the biggest names in American comedy participate in the event, other major comedians are criticizing their peers for being hosted by Saudi Arabia—and implicitly being part of the country’s latest tourism push—despite the nation’s checkered history and controversial policies. Marc Maron and Shane Gillis have pointed to the Saudi government’s alleged ties to 9/11, while Tim Dillon said he was invited to the

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