Comedian Arj Barker has responded to criticism after he asked a mother to leave his show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
The woman said she was humiliated after being asked to leave while breastfeeding her baby during Barker’s show at the Athenaeum Theatre on Saturday.
Barker said the show was clearly advertised as "strictly age 15+", and that the seven-month-old was disrupting the performance.
"On behalf of the other 700 people there who had paid to see the gig, I politely told her the baby couldn't stay," he said.
"She thought I was kidding which made the exchange a bit awkward."
Barker said he felt bad about the situation and offered the woman a refund as she was leaving the show.
"It's unfortunate about any embarrassment it caused her or her family, but again, had the show policy been adhered to, this situation would not have occurred," he said.
Melbourne mum says she felt humiliated by Barker
The woman told 3AW her baby had “gurgled a little bit, probably the equivalent to someone coughing” and that Mr Barker had joked about the noise before asking her to leave.
"People weren’t turning their heads. She wasn’t screaming — she was just being a baby," she said.
The woman said she was humiliated and intimidated, but was "blessed" that about a dozen people left the show with her in solidarity.
The mother of the seven-month-old said she had previously brought her baby to Dave Hughes’ comedy set and he had “moved on like a true professional”.
“You kind of lose yourself a little bit when you have kids. I was trying to get back to enjoying something that I enjoyed before kids," she said.
In a statement, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival said it was aware of the incident on Saturday night, but was not responsible for the event itself.
"Arj is independently produced and at a venue not managed by the festival, however, any interaction between performers and their audiences requires sensitivity and respect," a festival spokesperson said.
"In our festival managed venues, babes in arms are generally allowed but we do ask people to sit up the back with their child so they can quickly and easily leave if the baby gets noisy, so as not to disturb the artist and other patrons."
https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiY2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDI0LTA0LTIyL2Fyai1iYXJrZXItbWVsYm91cm5lLWludGVybmF0aW9uYWwtY29tZWR5LWZlc3RpdmFsLzEwMzc1NDUxNtIBKGh0dHBzOi8vYW1wLmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvYXJ0aWNsZS8xMDM3NTQ1MTY?oc=5
2024-04-22 05:22:46Z
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