The comedy world is witnessing fresh drama as Chris D’Elia has publicly criticized his former friend Whitney Cummings over her participation in Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Comedy Festival.
D’Elia’s criticism stems from what he sees as Cummings’ hypocrisy. During the #MeToo movement, Cummings created content addressing SA and publicly distanced herself from D’Elia when allegations surfaced against him in 2020. In her statement at the time, she declared, “This abuse of power is enabled by silence. Now that I’m aware, I won’t be silent.”
However, D’Elia and others question the sincerity of her activism, particularly given her decision to perform in Saudi Arabia despite the kingdom’s well-documented treatment of women and dissidents. On his podcast, D’Elia expressed frustration with Hollywood’s performative activism, stating: “If you’re out there saying, ‘Hey, the Me Too movement, hey, Black Lives Matter, hey, this is all important [stuff]’… And then you take the bag, you’re a [sellout]. Now I can’t believe anything.”
He also said: “Don’t you know it’s like if you’re you, whether you’re going to Saudi Arabia for money or you’re pretending you are an ally to save your money, it’s the same thing.”
“If you’re an entertainer, be an entertainer. If you want to be an activist, be an activist. don’t be an activist under the guise of you know, you’re making money of it. That’s horses**t.”
D’Elia was particularly critical of how former friends abandoned him during his scandal, arguing that people in Hollywood circles know their friends’ true character but choose ignorance when convenient. “You know your friend. You know what they did. You know what they didn’t do,” he said on his podcast. “Don’t be like, ‘Well, I wasn’t in those rooms.’ Shut the f**k up, dude.”
Cummings has defended her Saudi Arabia performance by dismissing criticism as racism, taking what observers call the “Bill Burr approach” to handling backlash. She responded indirectly to D’Elia’s comments on her podcast, suggesting the criticism comes from someone “who was just bummed that they weren’t invited.”
The comedian also attempted to deflect by characterizing her critics as privileged, saying: “I love when a Nepo baby tells comics who grew up poor that they’re sellouts. People whose dads have points on huge television shows are like, ‘I have a backup planet. Trust fund. You’re a sellout for making money.'”
Many comedians have faced criticism for performing in countries with poor human rights records while simultaneously advocating for social justice causes in their content.