“Right now in America, they say that if you talk about Charlie Kirk, that you’ll get canceled,” the comedian Dave Chappelle quipped on Saturday at the Riyadh Comedy Festival, the first event of its kind in Saudi Arabia. “I don’t know if that’s true, but I’m gonna find out.”
I wouldn’t assume that to be the case given the political climate. Some comedians, if invited to this event, would acknowledge that their fanbase would shrink after participation to the point of the money not being worthwhile. The ones that attended must feel their base either won’t care and therefore won’t change in size, or would be enthralled to see them attend and therefore grow in size or intensity or both.
If it were a universal truth that Riyadh performers would lose their careers as a result, no one would have went to perform. And so the choice becomes financial vs idealogical. Difficult position for those that may not be in the financial position they aspire to.