Comedian Dave Chappelle spared a few moments in his latest Netflix special to hit out at Bill Maher for criticizing his appearance at a controversial comedy festival in Saudi Arabia -- and criticized Israel along the way.
"Recently in the news, I've been getting a lot of grief, again, because I did a comedy festival in Saudi Arabia," Chappelle said in his newly released special "The Unstoppable," which debuted Dec. 19.
"Boy, I gotta tell you something. I've never not felt guilty about something. I don't feel guilty at all," he added.
Chappelle also took a swipe at Israel when he shot back at people who criticized the comedians in attendance for associating with the country after the government's involvement in the brutal 2018 murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
"They said 'but Saudi Arabia killed a journalist,'" Chappelle said during the segment of his special addressing the controversy.
"I mean, Israel's killed 240 journalists ... I didn't know y'all were still counting," he said in reference to the Jewish State's war with Hamas.
The 240 figure is a reference to the 248 journalists who the UN says have been killed during the war in Gaza. Israel denies it targets journalists.
The Riyadh Comedy Festival featured more than 50 big-name comedians, among them many A-list performers from the US including Bill Burr, Louis C.K., Kevin Hart, Whitney Cummings, Aziz Ansari and more, some of whom were paid up to $1.75 million for their appearance.
However many comedians sharply criticized their fellow humorists for accepting the payday due to Saudi Arabia's record of human rights abuses.
Compared to some, Maher's commentary was less pointed, though he called out Chappelle in particular for his claim that it was "easier to talk" on a comedy stage in Saudi Arabia than in America.
"It's not true," Maher said during a recent episode of "Real Time with Bill Maher" on HBO.
"Do your hunk on Mohammed, Dave," he challenged.
Maher's words seemingly rubbed Chappelle the wrong way, and he didn't hold back in his on-stage response.
"Bill Maher, the famous comedian, I've known Bill since I was like, 18, 19 years old, and I've never said this publicly, but f-k that guy. I'm so f-king tired of his little smug, cracker-ass commentary," Chappelle said.
He also doubled down on his claim he felt more constrained with his words in the US than in Saudi Arabia.
"I didn't tell them to put this in the paper. I just said it on stage. I said, 'It's easier to talk in Saudi Arabia for me than it is in America,'" he said.
"Oh, I stand ten toes on that. Don't forget what I just went through. Two years ago, I almost got canceled right here in the United States for transgender jokes," he said of two recent back-to-back specials in which he ruffled feathers for ridiculing trans people.
"But I gotta tell you something, transgender jokes went over very well in Saudi Arabia."
Noted comedians including David Cross, Jimmy Kimmel and Shane Gillis were among the performers who have been vocal in their criticism of the festival, which ran from Sept. 26 to Oct. 9.