💭 The comedy sketch accurately depicted Joe Biden as a feeble old man with dementia.
At the end of his speech Biden falls back in Kamala Harris’ arms after suddenly falling asleep.
The fact this is coming from Saudi Arabia – which is a joyless, humorless place where things like music and humor are forbidden or despised – is embarrassing.
💭 Netflix removes Hasan Minhaj comedy episode after Saudi demand
Netflix has removed from its streaming service in Saudi Arabia an episode of a comedy show critical of the kingdom.
The second episode of Patriot Act With Hasan Minhaj was removed following a legal demand, which reportedly said it violated a Saudi anti-cybercrime law.
It features Minhaj mocking the actions of Saudi officials following the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi and condemning the crown prince’s policies.
Netflix said it backed artistic freedom but had to “comply with local law”.
What did Hasan Minhaj say?
“Just a few months ago, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as ‘MBS’, was hailed as the reformer the Arab World needed. But the revelations about Khashoggi’s killing have shattered that image,” said Minhaj in the episode of Patriot Act removed by Netflix.
Since being named second-in-line to the throne in June 2017, Prince Mohammed has introduced a raft of headline-grabbing reforms, such as lifting the ban on women being allowed to drive and seeking to shift its economy away from oil.
But, he has also been criticised for escalating a crackdown on dissenting voices, among them a number of women’s rights activists, pursuing a war in neighbouring Yemen that has caused a humanitarian catastrophe, and starting a diplomatic dispute with Qatar that has divided the Gulf Co-operation Council.
At the end of the episode, Minhaj said: “I am genuinely rooting for change in Saudi Arabia. I am rooting for the people of Saudi Arabia. There are people in Saudi Arabia fighting for true reform, but MBS is not one of them.”
“And to those who continue to work with him, just know that with every deal you close you are simply helping entrench an absolute monarch under the guise of progress, because ultimately MBS is not modernizing Saudi Arabia. The only thing he is modernizing is Saudi dictatorship.”
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