Perhaps the single biggest change new CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss could make to the liberal and perpetually third-place network is simply covering stories their competition (ABC and CBS) avoid and/or simply defend American values.
One such example was on Tuesday’s CBS Mornings as senior foreign correspondent Holly Williams blasted A-list comedians taking huge paydays to perform in Saudi Arabia at the Riyad Comedy Festival.
It came with severe restrictions, of course, as performers had to sign contracts promising to not criticize or joke about the Saudi government, the Saudi royal family, Islam, or the country’s strict Islamic law. But we presume the left would say that’s far better than whatever America was like when Jimmy Kimmel ended up in timeout.
Co-host Gayle King set the table: “Some of the biggest names in comedy have been performing at a very controversial festival in Saudi Arabia this past week and they’ve been criticized by some for appearing to give legitimacy to a government with a very troubling human rights record. Holly Williams, who has reported inside Saudi Arabia many times, says the festival has divided the world of stand-up comedy.”
Williams explained the event was “pulling some of the biggest names in stand up to Saudi Arabia, including Dave Chappelle and Kevin Hart” ahead of a clip of Hart wondering if he and the Saudi Crown Prince could be friends.
She then cut to the chase about why this was only the latest attempt by Saudi Arabia (which, we would add, mirror those of other Arab countries with vast oil wealth) to engage in cultural and institutional capture:
The Saudi government is reportedly paying some of them over a million dollars each to perform. It may seem incongruous in Saudi Arabia, an ultra-conservative Islamic kingdom, but in recent years, the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman has tried to reshape his country’s image, investing billions in sporting events and entertainment, including the recent takeover of Electronic Arts, an American video game powerhouse.
After a flashback to her 2017 visit to the Kingdom that included a stop at a comedy club, she said “[h]uman rights groups accuse the Saudi government of doing something much more serious, using its oil wealth to try to whitewash its abuses, which include execution as punishment for criticizing the regime, the alleged torture of women who have campaigned for more freedom, and the murder of a journalist inside a Saudi consulate.”
Unsurprisingly, she found someone from a group like Human Rights Watch to weigh in, which served as a lead-in to the terms of service about not criticizing Saudis or Islam (click “expand”):
WILLIAMS: [TO SHEA]: Are the comedians hypocrites for saying, our business is all about free speech, but then to go to a country that doesn’t give people the freedom of speech?
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH’s JOEY SHEA: It’s certainly deeply disappointing. Comedy needs a radical free space to be able to poke fun at everyone and anyone, and so far, I haven’t seen anyone make a joke at Mohammed bin Salman or his authority’s expense.
WILLIAMS: One comedian who boycotted the Saudi festival posted the term she rejected including a ban on making fun of the Saudi government or religion.
JESSICA KIRSON: That was fun!
WILLIAMS: Another stand up, Jessica Kirson, performed in Riyadh, but later apologized to her outraged fans for a poor decision.
In the interest of fairness, she highlighted Louis C.K.’s defense on HBO’s Real Time of why he was going: “I love stand-up comedy, and I love comedians. So, by the fact that that’s opening up and starting to bud, I want to see it. I want to be part of it.”
She closed with this devastatingly stupid take from one of the biggest names who flew over, Dave Chappelle (plus a slight fact-check herself):
Chappelle apparently said on stage in Saudi Arabia that it’s, “easier to talk here than it is in America.” Now, many Saudis I’ve met on reporting trips to the country would disagree with that claim about freedom of speech inside the Kingdom[.]
Two hours later, CBS Mornings Plus reaired most of Williams’s report, but had some banter afterward with co-hosts Adriana Diaz and Tony Dokoupil calling out those who went and particularly Chappelle for his ludicrous claim he felt he had more free speech there versus in the U.S.:
DIAZ: That was Holly Williams reporting. We reached out to Kevin Hart and Dave Chappelle for comment, but they did not respond. Chappelle apparently said on stage in Saudi Arabia that “it’s easier to talk here than it is in America.”
TONY DOKOUPIL: I wonder if he tested that notion —
DIAZ: I do wonder as well.
DOKOUPIL: — with jokes about the Kingdom.
DIAZ: Yep, but as Holly has reported previously in her travels, many Saudis would definitely disagree with that claim about freedom of speech inside the kingdom.
DOKOUPIL: Louis C.K. talking about it there with Bill Maher. He made it sound like it was a charity event. Like he’s just happy to be spreading the joy of comedy.
DIAZ: Yeah.
DOKOUPIL: Oh, by the way, there’s a check.
DIAZ: Yeah.
DOKOUPIL: I don’t know. I can see why it divided the worlds of comedy.
DIAZ: Yeah, the human rights record. And especially for women in Saudi Arabia, it’s all there are a lot of questions.
DOKOUPIL: Yes, very much so.
To see the relevant CBS transcripts from October 7, click here and here.
