The the recent Riyadh Comedy Festival controversy made its way to Jimmy Kimmel Live! this week.

Aziz Ansari, one of the 50 or so comedians that traveled to Saudi Arabia to perform for what was billed as the worlds largest comedy festival, stopped by Kimmels late night show to promote his new Lionsgate comedy Good Fortune. And the host tackled the storm head on.

This is something thats become a big part of the news because people, a lot of comedians especially, are very upset, because the people who paid the comedians to come to this are not good people, Kimmel said in broaching the subject before referencing the kingdoms history of oppression and human rights abuses. Its a pretty brutal regime. Theyve done a lot of horrible, horrible things. People are questioning why you would go over there and take their money to perform in front of these people. Im curious as to why you decided to do that? Ansari said he put a lot of thought into accepting the invitation, even consulting advice from his aunt who used to live in Saudi Arabia. Theres people over there that dont agree with the stuff that the governments doing, and to ascribe like the worst behavior of the government onto those people, thats not fair. Just like theres people in America that dont agree with the things the government is doing, he said.

But Kimmel pushed back and said they murdered a journalist in reference to the assassination of the Washington Post writer Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018. The writer had been a frequent critic of the Saudi government including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

I was just there to do a show for the people, Ansari said in response. Whenever theres repressive societies like this, they try to keep things out whether its rock and roll music or blue jeans because it makes people curious about outside ideas, outside values. And this is a very young country, like half the country is under the age of 25, and things can really change. To me, a comedy festival felt like something thats pushing things to be more open and to push a dialogue.

Ansari continued by saying that you have to make a decision to isolate or engage, and he leaned towards the latter. For me, especially being me and looking the way I do and being from a Muslim background, it felt like something I should be a part of. And I hope it pushes things in a positive direction, he said.

The sentiment is shared by Bill Burr, another Riyadh Comedy Festival participant, who fired back at critics by saying events like that have to happen in order to make progress. It was necessary. It felt right afterward, he said during an appearance on Conan OBrien Needs a Friend. I vibed with them and they were funny. Fuck, they were funny fucking people. I dont know what to tell you. I had a good time. A few days prior, he said on his own podcast that the Saudi royals loved the show and everyone was happy with how it turned out. The people that were doing the festival were thrilled. The comedians that Ive been talking to are saying, Dude, you can feel [the audience] wanted it. They want to see real stand-up comedy. It was a mind-blowing experience. Definitely top three experiences Ive had. I think its going to lead to a lot of positive things, he said.

Ansaris appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! came up on Wednesday night during Kimmels appearance at Bloombergs Screentime in Los Angeles. Journalist Lucas Shaw asked Kimmel during the newsy interview whether or not Ansari knew he would be asking him about Riyadh, and Kimmel confirmed that he did. Asked why he felt it was important to tackle his participation, Kimmel said he wanted to hear what Ansari had to say on the subject.

I wouldnt have gone, but I wanted to hear his reasons, and I thought he had some compelling reasons, Kimmel told Shaw. Nothings black and white. Its not something I would do but I do understand the idea that if we close ourselves off to the world, or we isolate, that maybe its not good. Kimmel continued by saying that while traveling many of us dont want to be held accountable for what President Trump says. Im fortunate enough to be well known, and people know where Im coming from but it would be a different situation if people didnt know who I was. Probably the first thing Id say as I got into every cab is, I didnt vote for him, just FYI so you know. I do think that kind of makes me understand [their] position better.

See Ansari on Jimmy Kimmel Live! below.