The Ministry of Interior has decided not to allow the comedian Eddie Griffin entry into Kuwait. Eddie was expected to perform in Kuwait next month but has now been barred entry into the country because of his religious beliefs (he’s an atheist) and because he’s performed some religion related sets before. [Source]
The sad thing is that Eddie Griffin is still expected to perform in Saudi Arabia next month for three nights. It’s been kind of a running joke lately that Saudi Arabia is becoming more liberal than Kuwait but it’s starting to look like less of a joke and more of a fact.
Update: As of now the news above hasn’t been verified. Check out my update [Here]
53 replies on “Eddie Griffin to be Barred from Entering Kuwait *UPDATED*”
I fully support my government’s decision. If you don’t like it, you can go watch him in Saudi.
If you dont like it, you can choose not to watch him in Kuwait. You have an option of not buying a ticket.
Funny you say that..when a Dutch man wilder wants to draw cartoon picture of prophet mohammed….where is kuwaiti moc then
.y not ban Holland’s product and embassy itself?
What are you talking about? There was a complete ban on Danish goods, even the Danish Bakery changed its name for a while
Danish, not Dutch.
I too support my government.
Oh everyone will go to Saudi in a couple of decades. Meanwhile, you will be debating if Little Mermaid’s tits should be censored.
What is it with the “if you don’t like it get out” mentality!!!! Seriously!!! When are you guys going to stop this??? No one is dissing Kuwait here. If you think everyone is Kuwait is religious or abides by the “uniformity” of religion, then you are truly delusional. Kuwait has ALWAYS been the place for artists to Speak up and perform. Does it have the right to reject people/ideas/performances…ABSOLUTELY! But don’t come with these totally ignorant comments that say if you don’t like it get out, or go watch it else where…Share your opinion as to why you think its a good move, and let’s have a healthy discussion about it.
Wow.
I didn’t ask for anyone to get out, I meant if this banning shit goes on, no one will want to be here in the first place, living or visiting.
The comment wasnt a reply to you Kuwait…i hit the reply box on the wrong comment. It was to MOC. “If u dint like it go watch it in Saudi”…
Oh ok no worries
You literally didn’t read what the person said and went on to rant. Jesus Christ you people need to understand before commenting.
You don’t like it, don’t watch it. We don’t care about you
Lol… Visit Visa Cancelled…
At first I thought this was a joke, banning someone for his beleifs. I was genuinly upset with what we are becoming. Until I saw the video linked above. I’m not saying I am happy with the ban, I’m just saying if he was coming I wouldn’t attend his show. Freedom of speech is something but this is disrespectful. And I wasn’t offended by what he said about muslims, that was actually funny. It was how was he was making fun of Jesus. I mean prohet or not, making fun of his crusifiction is just too low.
Rather than banning him and going pulic with this, I would of called in the people bringing him in and sharing any concerns the government has and offer some compensation for efforts done so far.
Of course we will now have to deal with being the main topic of his act for the next few months. 🙂
Typo:
he’s performed some religion related “sets” before
skits (?)
sets is right
Skits is right-errrr
not really, sketch comedy is not the same as stand up comedy.
“Peace and tolerance” at it’s finest. To think they want to build a “mega financial hub” what a fucking joke.
Make Vasta IN Jawasaaat :0 Lol
So I guess they should ban all the atheists in the country, expats or kuwaitis, me included.
Is Hindu Religion considered atheist.
We do believe in God, Just not Allah.
Allah is the Arabic word for god.
god = إلٰه (pronounced ilah)
Allah = الله
Allah is more of a name than a noun
Allah is the arabic “name” for God.
If to you there’s a difference between god and God… then I can pass that marginal Arabic error
I think the ban is more towards his insulting of religion
On Instagram Gas Events is doing damage control saying it’s a rumor and the event will still take place? They also say they will take ‘legal action’ against those who spread the rumor. It sounds like they are going to be losing some money soon. When I asked how they would bring a guy who is known to have some profanity in his acts they said it’s an ‘over 18’ event.
As a Kuwaiti atheist, I feel like the people in this country have similar attitudes to Donald Trump. Bunch of crazy religious freaks that make Mormons look like sane people. I can’t wait to leave this unwelcoming environment.
Respect above is what is important. Respect is important and I know Mark mentioned that Saudi is hosting him but I’m sure they wouldn’t if he said something about the Royals. Kuwait is still the most moderate Arab place to live in the Arab world. Yes it has its problems, especially the treatment of foreigners, but I think if you take everything into account like lifestyle, standard of living, etc etc Kuwait wins in the arab world. My best friend is an atheist and him and I would die for each other. I’m living here in canada for the past 2 years and I’ve grown up here as a child as well. I can tell you this. The bullies are on both sides. Both liberal and conservative. And even freedom of speech is just as controlled as it is in the middle East. The main problem with the middle East is not religion, although I’m sure you’ll argue that point, but it’s culture. Now we are learning that things were different in the region only 40 years ago. Very different. Even my grandmother used to tell me women dressed differently and the region was secular but people still practiced their faith. Now it has become unbearable and everyone from the extreme religious to a person that doesn’t know where the direction of mecca is will preach religion to you. Not to mention the tremendous double standards that people hold. In short, regardless where you are , freedom of speech is an illusion. There is always something you can’t say somewhere and if you do you’ll be bullied, lose your job and maybe your life.
holy fuck well said my dude
Kim K is a good christian lady, she is permitted to enter
It pissed me off they let her in and same time banned Akon.
Would you kindly also please stop using facebook as well? made by the atheist Zuckerberg.
Cmon dude.. obviously god has given the right to modern muslims to choose between lesser haram and greater haram. duhh!!
haha yeah as long as it’s not pork, its ok
They could have just told him to not do any anti Islam jokes…. I mean no need to ban him
Can’t believe we are behind Saudi in something like this, no matter how trivial or minor it is
Some logic right there…
It is unfair to apply the concept of measuring a country’s backwardness or forwardness by another. It is an ineffective tool.
That’s just insulting!
Not going to disagree lol but I wouldn’t say totally ineffective, comparison can sometimes show major flaws
But what I’m trying to say is that banning him was totally overkill
Can’t wait to see the day when most people in this country start to realize that religion is a myth and religious people become a fringe group who no one pays attention to
I think people here are beginning to realize that. The religious bunch are getting very defensive and aggressive on promoting their agenda, much more than previous years. I think they also starting to realize that they’re a dying breed hence the aggressiveness.
trying to open a healthy debate here… hit me up
Situation 1…
Eddie Griffin made some jokes on religion/anti christian/anti muslim jokes/statements. Kuwait banned him entry….kuwait is considered/labelled backward.
meanwhile current Indian PM Narendra modi was denied entry to the US earlier in his career due to his anti muslim stance and other reasons genocide etc, loads of other ppl are denied entry into the US cuz of things they say, hate speech etc… Is US labelled backwards?
Situation 2…
in this day and age its wrong to use the N word for african americans, be racial towards them, use racial slurs or say anyhting against them. hate speech and hate crimes are punishable.
similarly making anti semite comments/jokes is widely frowned upon in the west.
also similarty being homophobic, making anti gay statements etc is not acceptable.
they above 3 are on humans ( be it blacks, jews, homosexuals) why then is it punishable to say stuff about humans but not about God who created them all? why is blasphemy or insulting Prophet Mohammad or Jesus not taken so seriously? why dont ppl on the other side of the fence show the same respect that blacks, jews and gays deserve?
just some food for thought.
Because one was said as part of a comedic act, shouldn’t be taken seriously and has no intention to be harmful. The other examples you give are hate speech and so meant to cause harm and be hateful. You can’t compare both things, comedians are just being funny (or trying to be).
Why is insulting prophets not taken so seriously?. Because they are not around anymore. But people of colour, LGBTQA+ and other marginalized communities are and their on-going struggles in the the modern world are generally placed much higher on the do-not-joke-about list than the extremely subjective beliefs in God and religion.
fair point well made Mark, but dont you think theres a fine line sometimes? i mean this opens up doors to making fun of everyone or being racial and then hiding behing the word “comedy” or “fun”.
Yes sometimes comedy can be out of taste or cross the line but in this case it wasn’t. For example a Muslim reader above wasn’t offended at the Muslim jokes in his set but found one of the Christian jokes offensive to Christians. As a Christian, I wasn’t offended by any of the jokes.
So there isn’t a clear line between what is appropriate and what isn’t because it depends on how uptight the viewers are or how open and chill they are.
YOU ARE WRONG ! This is not the reason ! And who the hell is Thari to be a source ?
Disgusting back to stone age!!!! Wake up Kuwait!!!
Kuwait 2035? Where is the vision the govt wants?
Our constitution ststes freedom of speech and religion.Freedom! Stop banning
I bought 2 tickets for the event, how i suppose to take my money back????