Kimmel grills Aziz Ansari over Saudi Arabia comedy festival performance

Liberal talk show host Jimmy Kimmel grilled comedian Aziz Ansari for performing at a comedy festival in Saudi Arabia on Monday, noting that he is one of many people who will be scrutinized for taking money from the Saudis.

The entertainment world has been rocked in recent weeks by a massive comedy festival in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, featuring many of the world’s best-known working comedians. Artists are accused of normalizing or “artwashing” the Saudi Arabian regime with their entertainment.

Comedian Atsuko Okatsuka, who refused to attend the festival, shared screenshots of a contract that artists were allegedly required to sign to ensure their content did not violate Saudi Arabian government guidelines.

The convention reportedly prohibits “any material that is derogatory, defamatory or brings into public disrepute, humiliates, scandalizes, embarrass or ridicules” the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

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“Obviously this is something that’s become a big part of the news because people, especially a lot of comedians, are very upset, because the people who pay comedians to come here are not good people. It’s a pretty brutal regime. They’ve done a lot of terrible, terrible things,” Kimmel told Ansari, asking Ansari why he did this.

Ansari said he thought hard about his choice to join, noting that his aunt, who had lived there for a while, told him that there were many people in Saudi Arabia who did not agree with what their government was doing, just like in the United States.

While Kimmel theoretically acknowledged that “we’re doing terrible things here” in America, he argued that the Saudi Arabian government is clearly on a different level.

“They killed a journalist. Those are not good people there,” Kimmel said, referring to the infamous state-sponsored murder of Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Türkiye in 2018.

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An installation showcasing the Riyadh Comedy Festival is seen at Boulevard City in Riyadh’s Hittin district on October 6, 2025. (Fayez Nureldine/AFP via Getty Images)

“I was just there to put on a show for the public,” Ansari replied. “When you have oppressive societies like this, they try to keep things out, whether it’s rock ‘n’ roll music or blue jeans, because it makes people wonder about outside ideas, outside values. And this is a very young country. Like, half the country is under 25, and things can really change. And to me, a comedy festival felt like something that pushed things to be more open and push the dialogue.”

He said he hopes he’s pushing things “in a positive direction.”

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People pass by an installation showcasing the Riyadh Comedy Festival at Boulevard City in Riyadh’s Hittin district on October 6, 2025. (Fayez Nureldine/AFP via Getty Images)

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