00:00Pete Davidson is standing by his decision to perform at the Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia.
00:06More than two decades after his father, New York City firefighter Scott Davidson,
00:10was killed in the September 11th terrorist attacks.
00:14The 31-year-old Saturday Night Live alum is one of 50 comedians in the lineup for the festival,
00:19which began September 26 and runs through October 9.
00:23The roster includes some of the biggest names in comedy,
00:25Dave Chappelle, Louis C.K., Jimmy Carr, Kevin Hart, Sebastian Maniscalco,
00:32Aziz Ansari, Andrew Schultz, Whitney Cummings, and Hannibal Buress.
00:37Pete was asked about the festival during a September 23rd appearance on Theo Vaughn's This Past Weekend podcast,
00:43and here is what he said.
00:45I've heard there's subreddits of like, I think all these people are in bed with that.
00:51I just, you know, I get the routing and then I see the number and I go, I'll go.
00:57I've been getting a little bit of flack just because like my dad died 9-11,
01:01so they're like, how could you possibly go there?
01:05David Cross recently eviscerated fellow comics playing in the starry Riyadh Comedy Festival
01:10and posted on his site last week about the Saudi Arabian Fest being billed as
01:15the world's largest comedy festival, sharing,
01:18I am disgusted and deeply disappointed in this whole gross thing
01:22that people I admire with unarguable talent would condone this totalitarian fiefdom for
01:29what?
01:30A fourth house?
01:31A boat?
01:32More sneakers?
01:33He added,
01:34Some comics have also condemned the festival,
01:45arguing Saudi Arabia is using the high-profile event to polish its global image,
01:50despite alleged human rights abuses.
01:52Cross also added,
01:53There's not enough money for me to help these depraved, awful people put a
01:57fun face on their crimes against humanity.
02:00In addition to Davidson, Louis C.K. recently defended joining the festival as well,
02:05stating that this is a positive thing and a great way to get in and start talking.
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