Dave Chappelle doesn't regret Saudi Arabia comedy gig
Dave Chappelle does not feel any guilt over his controversial decision to perform at the Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia earlier this year.
Dave Chappelle doesn't "feel guilty at all" about performing in Saudi Arabia.
The 52-year-old comedian was on the end of a backlash for performing at the Riyadh Comedy Festival in the Middle Eastern country - which has faced criticism for its human rights record - earlier this year but stressed that he had no regrets about the show.
Speaking in his new Netflix special Dave Chappelle: The Unstoppable, he said: "These m*********** act like because I did a comedy festival in Saudi Arabia I somehow betrayed my principles... They said, 'Well, Saudi Arabia killed a journalist' and rest in peace Jamal Khashoggi. I'm sorry that he got murdered in such a heinous fashion. And also, look bro, Israel's killed 240 journalists in the last three months so I didn't know y'all were still counting."
Chappelle also stated that his jokes about the trans community went down "very well" with the audience in Saudi Arabia.
He said: '"But I've gotta tell you something - transgender jokes went over very well in Saudi Arabia."
The comic cited Jimmy Kimmel's recent suspension from his talk show as symptomatic of how free speech has been limited in the United States as he reiterated his past statement that "it's easier to talk in Saudi Arabia for me than it is in America".
Dave said: "I'll take money from Saudi Arabia any day just so I can say no over here. It feels good to be free.
"And I know that the people in Saudi Arabia can't say all the things that I was allowed to say. But a deal's a deal, and the king said that I could say these things. So I looked at like I was on a diplomatic mission: I've gotta bring p**** jokes to the Middle East."
Chappelle added that the assassination of right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk in September further highlights the perils of being outspoken in the US.
He said: "This is another reason it's hard to talk in America, because if you talk for a living and see Charlie Kirk get murdered that way, I'm gonna be honest, I was shook."
However, The Nutty Professor star rejected comparisons between Kirk and civil rights activist Martin Luther King - who was himself assassinated in 1968.
Dave remarked: "(People were saying) Charlie Kirk is this generation’s Martin Luther King. No, he’s not. That’s a reach. They both got murdered in a terrible fashion, they both got shot in the neck, but that’s about where those similarities end."
