Amy Poehler Under Fire After Aziz Ansari Podcast
Amy Poehler’s latest podcast booking has set off a firestorm. Fans say inviting Aziz Ansari platforms him too soon after his contentious appearance at Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Comedy Festival.
Well, this was always going to light up the comments. Amy Poehler brought Aziz Ansari onto her podcast, Good Hang, and a lot of fans are not thrilled — mostly because he just performed at Saudi Arabia's state-backed Riyadh Comedy Festival.
What set people off
Good Hang is usually Poehler having loose, friendly chats with other comedians. This latest episode landed differently. The YouTube comments filled up fast with folks calling the booking tone-deaf and disappointing, with a few variations on: he is your friend, but read the room. One user said they were really disappointed to see him there after he accepted money tied to the festival. Another called it a big mistake.
The Riyadh Comedy Festival piece
Ansari performed at the government-backed event in Riyadh, which ran September 26 through October 9. The lineup was stacked — Wayne Brady, Kevin Hart, Louis C.K., Dave Chappelle — and the festival also drew backlash because of Saudi Arabia's human rights record and strict censorship laws. So when Poehler featured Ansari right after that, you can see why some fans saw it as her co-signing the whole thing.
Did the episode address it?
That was a sticking point for a lot of commenters. Several said they hoped Poehler would ask Ansari directly about the decision to play Riyadh, and felt let down that it came off as a friendly hang instead of a conversation with any moral scrutiny.
What Aziz has said about going
Ansari has defended the choice publicly. On Jimmy Kimmel's show, he argued that painting all the people in the country with the government's actions is unfair. He also said he offered to donate what he earned from the gig to Human Rights Watch, and that HRW declined the money.
'There are people over there that do not agree with what the government is doing, and to ascribe the worst behavior of the government onto those people, that is not fair.'
So, bottom line: Poehler booking Ansari right after Riyadh without addressing the controversy head-on was never going to go over smoothly with a chunk of her audience.