Comedian speaks out on ‘difficult situation’ after he kicked ‘breastfeeding’ woman out of show
Comedian Arj Barker came under fire for his decision
Arj Barker has further addressed his recent decision to kick out a breastfeeding mother from his comedy gig.
Barker was performing at the Athenaeum Theatre in Melbourne, Australia, on Saturday (20 April) when he asked that Trish Faranda and her seven-month-old baby leave the comedy gig as they were 'disrupting' his performance.
Reportedly, the mother had been breastfeeding her child at the time.
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The ordeal sparked a handful of other audience members to walk out in protest.
Barker has since addressed the ordeal and insisted that it was for the benefit of 'the other 700 people there who had paid to see the gig'.
Noting that the show was for people aged 15 and over, Barker went on: "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."
It's said the mother was offered a full refund.
Faranda herself has spoken out as well, and insisted that her baby wasn't doing anything wrong.
"I didn’t want to impact other people, people were out to have a good night," she said.
Faranda insisted that 'people weren't turning their heads' at the noise her child, adding: "She wasn’t screaming - she was just being a baby."
However, she described Barker as being 'intimidating' as he spoke to her, recalling that he was 'standing right in front' of her.
Now, Barker has issued an apology.
Addressing Faranda, he said on Sunrise today (April 23): "I hope you're doing okay. I'm sorry that that was a difficult situation, and I would like to make peace.
"I would like to meet up with her and have a serious discussion about selling the movie rights and go 50-50.
"Also, to the beautiful baby who I have nothing against, I want to offer that little child a ticket to my show post-dated 2039."
Barker has also said that he supports breastfeeding, and insisted that he had no idea that Faranda was feeding her child when he asked her to leave.
"I couldn't see her well enough to know if she was breastfeeding or not," he said. "That's something I only heard about two days after the incident.
"I want to make that really clear because it's been mentioned so much I had, and if she was, I wouldn't care."
A Melbourne International Comedy Festival spokesperson has discussed the incident too.
"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 statement issued to ABC News read.
"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."
Niamh Shackleton