Comedian Jessica Kirson, an openly gay veteran of the stand-up stage, has issued a statement expressing “sincere regret” for being among the more than 50 stars to participate in Saudi Arabia ’s Riyadh Comedy Festival.

The event — currently taking place from Sept. 26-Oct. 9 and billed as the “world’s largest comedy festival” — welcomed a who’s who of comedians to the country including Dave Chappelle , Bill Burr , Louis C.K., Kevin Hart , Pete Davidson, Whitney Cummings, Andrew Schulz, Pete Davidson, Aziz Ansari , Jim Jefferies, Jo Koy, Sebastian Maniscalco, Mark Normand, Tom Segura, Bobby Lee, Jeff Ross and more. It has come under fire this week as word spread of its lineup, leading comedy world insiders like Marc Maron, David Cross and Atsuko Okatsuka to speak out against it

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