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Singapore has refuted several allegations made by American comedian Sammy K Obeid, who earlier claimed that his upcoming show in the city-state was cancelled over references to Gaza and Palestine in his material
In a statement to SAYS, a spokesperson from the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) said Obeid's claims are "inaccurate" and clarified that the stand-up comedy event — "Sammy Obeid: LIVE in Singapore!" — was rejected due to a late licence application.
"The Arts Entertainment Licence (AEL) application for the stand-up comedy show was rejected as it was submitted late. IMDA received the application around 11.57pm on Friday, 15 August 2025, for the intended show on 31 August, 10 working days before the event.
"AEL applications are required to be submitted at least 40 working days before the event," the spokesperson said.
IMDA added that the application was submitted by a local representative who was already experienced in the licensing process, but who had made late submissions on three previous occasions since May 2024.
The government agency also stressed that it had never requested the comedian to alter his material
"IMDA had not requested for any edits to be made on the script."
"At no time were 'multiple edits' requested. We are also not aware of past applications for Obeid to perform in Singapore and discussions on scripts," the spokesperson said.
According to IMDA, the local representative was informed on 19 August via email that the late application could not be processed, and this was reiterated on 25 August through both a call and written correspondence.
"We have no information on when the decision was conveyed by the local representative to Obeid," the spokesperson added.
The IMDA clarification comes after Obeid, in a post on Instagram on 27 August, alleged that Singaporean authorities had demanded he remove all mentions of Palestine and Israel from his set, and that his permit was rejected only five days before the scheduled show.
The Oakland-born Lebanese-Palestinian-Syrian-Italian-American had claimed that IMDA were "wary" about what he might ultimately say on stage.
