O American comedian Arj Barker expelled a mother who was breastfeeding her 7-month-old baby from a show taking place at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, in Australia.
The comedian’s attitude is generating a lot of controversy, with many voices rising against him and ensuring that his decision was related to the fact that the woman was breastfeeding in public.
Arj has already tried to defend himself. In an interview with ABC, the comedian said that the baby’s noises interrupted his train of thought. “On behalf of the other 700 people who paid to see the show, I politely told her that the baby couldn’t stay there,” he explained, rejecting criticism that his decision was related to something other than the noise.
“I have nothing against babies. Firstly, the issue of breastfeeding is not a problem. I had no idea she was breastfeeding,” he said, adding that the bright lights in the theater mean he can’t see the audience.
In solidarity with Trish Faranda and her daughter, Clara, several people stood up from the audience and also left the place.
According to CNN Australia, the woman revealed to several local media outlets that she initially thought it was a joke.
“Is there a baby here? I speak ‘baby’ fluently and he’s saying: Take me out of here”, said the comedian, according to Trish, admitting that he started by laughing, without knowing that Arj was being serious, Since her daughter wasn’t crying or screaming, she was, even breastfeeding to keep her calm.
When she realized that the comedian was actually waiting for her to leave the place, Trish got up and left. “I didn’t want to ruin anyone’s night, I didn’t want to be disruptive or cause a scene,” she told Seven News, revealing, however, that she felt humiliated.
The incident has sparked fierce debate in Australia about the right of mothers to take their babies wherever they want and the right of artists to ban babies from their shows.
The festival organizers have already said that “babies in arms are generally allowed, but we ask that families sit with their children in the back seats so that they can get out quickly and easily if the baby makes noise, so as not to disturb the artist nor the public”.
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