Abdulaziz was close friends[1] and worked with Jamal Khashoggi—the Saudi dissident and journalist for The Washington Post—on various initiatives after Khashoggi left the kingdom to live in exile in 2017.[2] In 2018 Abdulaziz's phone was hacked and his conversations with Khashoggi were intercepted.[1][4] Khashoggi was later assassinated by Saudi Arabia. Abdulaziz's two brothers and several friends are imprisoned in their homes in Saudi Arabia because of their links to him.[1][4]