The Saudis Run Hollywood (well Netflix, at least)

By Logan McRay

I’ve long been skeptical of conspiracy theorist claims by the likes of Alex Jones that American entertainment is run by Saudi Arabia or the Chinese. Leave it to Netflix to substantiate these claims.

From The New York Times:

“Netflix has blocked an episode of its show “Patriot Act With Hasan Minhaj” from streaming in Saudi Arabia after the Saudi government complained that the episode — which is critical of the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman — violated its cybercrime laws.

In the episode, first shown in October, Mr. Minhaj critiques the United States’ longstanding relationship with Saudi Arabia after the murder of the dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

“Now would be a good time to reassess our relationship with Saudi Arabia,” Mr. Minhaj said, “and I mean that as a Muslim and an American.”

Netflix, a company that sees fit to promote creepy prepubescent sexuality (Big Mouth), satanic imagery marketed to adolescents (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) and overall general wretchedness (The Break with Michelle Wolf) draws the line at offending the government of Saudi Arabia. How did I ever doubt you, Alex?

[Editor's Note: I find it incredibly ironic that they decided to name a Muslim Indian hosted show about American politics "Patriot Act" given that this was the name of one of the most egregious violations of civil liberties in American history. Do you think the creators of the show fully grasp these levels of irony? Somehow I doubt it. ~J.W.]