A comedy festival in the capital of Saudi Arabia has provided golden material for comedians who declined the offer on principle—or would’ve done, if they’d received an invite in the first place.

The debut Riyadh Comedy Festival, running Sept. 26 to Oct. 9, bills itself as “the biggest comedy festival in the world.” In the line up of more than 50 comedians, some like Bill Burr and Pete Davidson, whose firefighter father was killed in the 9/11 attacks, came as a shock and disappointment to fans.

The irony is also not lost that many of these same comics, who have publicly railed against cancel culture and preached about freedom of speech, sold out to a regime that allegedly provided a list of deal terms for appearing at the event, including forbidding any criticism of religion or the Saudi

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