Food critic Jay Rayner declines Saudi invite over ‘whitewashing’, Khashoggi murder

Prominent British food critic and journalist Jay Rayner said he had declined an invitation to write a culinary guide for Saudi Arabia that would be funded by the Saudi government in a series of posts this week.

Writing on social media platform X, the well-known critic who has been published in the Guardian and also worked for the BBC, Channel4 and The Observer, hit out at the kingdom, citing a number of reasons.

"…It’s a murderous, homophobic, misogynistic regime. I’ve been shocked by the willingness of various hospitality business to take their money," he wrote.

"The killing and then butchering of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul by the government should be reason enough not to take their money. I’m mentioning this in a blatant attempt to shame other food journalist who considers taking this blood-stained gig," he added.

Many praised Rayner for his stance, calling on others in the industry to follow suit.

"Rare integrity. Well done indeed," one person wrote in response.

"Your integrity was already obvious to me in the quality and character of your writing and has now been confirmed," another responded.

Rayner later clarified in a follow up post that he "can’t imagine taking money from any government to write about their country’s food".

Human Rights Watch (HRW), among other rights groups, have long highlighted Saudi Arabia’s efforts to ‘whitewash’ human rights abuses in the kingdom.

According to HRW, the Saudi government has spent billions of dollars hosting major entertainment, culture and sports events in an intentional strategy to deflect from ongoing human rights violations.

"Saudi citizens and residents should enjoy top-notch entertainment and sporting events, but they also should enjoy basic rights such as free expression and peaceful assembly," the group’s deputy Middle East director, Michael Page, said in a statement.

Page added that when A-listers, celebrities, and other notable international figures take money from the government to perform there while failing to speak out on human rights abuses, they are "boosting the kingdom’s strategy of whitewashing Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s abuses."

The kingdom’s investment into the food, culture and entertainment sectors is part of Vision2030, which is Bin Salman’s plan to diversify the economy away from oil, as well as attract foreign investment and tourism.

Big names have previously performed in the kingdom attracting scathing criticism, including Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez, David Guetta and Enrique Iglesias.

HRW has repeatedly called for people to counter the "imagine laundering" and polishing of the kingdom’s reputation by highlighting the poor human rights record and warned businesses to refrain from doing anything that would bolster the reputation of governments who have been accused of serious human rights violations.

This week, it was announced that rapper Eminem will be performing in Saudi’s Riyadh, with the exact date of the performance yet to be announced.

The MDLBeast Soundstorm festival, which he is headlining, will mark his first-ever concert in the Kingdom, despite other singers and celebrities being on the receiving end of criticism for accepting invitations to perform there.