The joke’s on Dave Chappelle

The problem with Dave Chappelle taking his comedy to Saudi Arabia isn’t the money they paid him. It’s what they bought.

We’re all familiar with the reputation laundering that the Middle East has engaged in on a grand scale in recent years, spending big to get into sports, entertainment and now hosting more than fifty of the biggest names in standup comedy for a Riyadh Comedy Festival. Chappelle’s performance was notable for its direct attack on the quality of free speech rights in America – and a claim that Saudi Arabia of all places is actually more free.

“Right now in America, they say that if you talk about Charlie Kirk, that you’ll get canceled,” he said according to the New York Times. “It’s easier to talk here than it is in America.”

During his set, Kevin Hart – no stranger to the appeal of a dollar – was even more obsequious. “I love what y’all are doing here,” Hart said. “I’ll continue being a positive ambassador of your change to the world.” Who knew that amount of cringe could come in such small packages?

Of course, the conditions for these men and others to go to Saudi Arabia in the first place was to break faith with the whole mindset of comedy. Entering a country where all media is government approved and massive legal sentences can be directed at people who flaunt the most basic conventions is easier when you’re a paid guest – but they still had to sign on a dotted line of a contract that included this prohibition:

“[Artists] shall not prepare or perform any material that may be considered to degrade, defame, or bring into public disrepute…The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including its leadership, public figures, culture, or people; B) The Saudi royal family, legal system, or government, and; C) Any religion, religious tradition, religious figure, or religious practice.”

The actual problem isn’t accepting the money. Plenty of artists and performers and businesses have done the same. The problem is signing away the whole reason your comedy became popular in the first place. Hart is one thing – he’s always been a corporate shill, Jumanji, Draft Kings, Saudis, what’s the difference? No one would be surprised at him making the hand prints in the sand ceremony.

Chappelle was different. He made a career skewering the hypocrisy and posturing of right, left, and middle for years. He made a recurring hilarious joke of going after George W. Bush. And the only real threat he ever experienced to free speech in America was when he ran afoul of the trans mob, who endeavored unsuccessfully to get him canceled from Netflix.

When Chappelle signed up for the Saudi cash, he was giving something up by agreeing to their terms and going above and beyond to criticize America along the way. He was agreeing not to keep it real, lest anything go wrong. And the Saudis knew it, and were happy to pay for it. That’s because what they were buying wasn’t comedy – it was compliance.