Arj Barker has issued a peace offering as he doubled down on his decision to tell a breastfeeding mother to leave his show.
The popular comedian responded to the firestorm created when he booted mother-of-three Trish Faranda from his show at the Melbourne Comedy Festival on Saturday night, which has divided Australia.
Faranda claimed she was humiliated and made to cry when the American comedian kicked her and her seven-month-old daughter Clara out of the performance.
He claimed that Clara was babbling and “complained a little” before Ms. Faranda fed her. Barker then ordered him to leave 15 minutes into the concert because they were “interrupting his show.”
The comedian broke his silence to defend his decision that baby Clara shouldn’t have been in his PG-15 show in the first place.
He also apologized to Mrs. Faranda for the embarrassment caused and made a cheerful attempt to make amends.
‘I hope you’re well. “I’m sorry it was a difficult situation and I would like to make amends,” she told Sunrise on Tuesday.
Comedian Arj Barker asked Melbourne mother-of-three Trish Faranda and her baby Clara to leave his show on Saturday night.
‘I would like to meet with her and have a serious conversation about selling the rights to the film and making it 50-50.
“Also, to the beautiful baby that I have nothing against, I want to offer you a ticket to my post-2039 show.”
Barker admitted it was an unfortunate and complicated situation for everyone involved.
“I’m not going to hide because I want people to know the truth of what happened, at least from my perspective,” he said.
“Both I and the woman were put in a position wWe shouldn’t have been inside.
Barker insists she has no problem with public breastfeeding, which she described as perfectly natural.
Arj Barker (pictured speaking to Sunrise on Tuesday) has doubled down on his decision but admitted it was an unfortunate situation for everyone involved.
The comedian has issued a public apology to Trish Faranda, along with a refund
He added that he had no idea what Faranda was doing at the time.
“I couldn’t see her well enough to know if she was breastfeeding or not; that’s something I only heard about two days after the incident,” she continued.
“I want to make that very clear because it’s been mentioned a lot and if it was, I wouldn’t care.”
Barker acknowledged that the baby was not screaming, but said its “cute” noises were distracting to the audience.
He stood by his decision to ask the mother to leave, a decision that has polarized Australians.
“It’s about giving the crowd an immersive experience of watching a comedy show with beats and breaks and getting caught up in the show,” Barker explained.
“I believe that, as a performer, I have the right to ask a disruptive audience member to leave the show.
“Unfortunately, it was a cute baby at the time and had nothing to do with the mother or the sex of the parents.
‘If I were a father, I would have said exactly the same thing.
“From where I’m on stage, I’m just trying to create a nice environment to do my show.”
Arj Barker said baby Clara should not have been allowed on the 15+ show
The saga has divided Australians over who was wrong.
The staff didn’t seem to care. “But this was handled very poorly and, I mean, unprofessionally,” said one audience member.
Other Australians jumped to Barker’s defense.
“It’s pretty crazy, selfish on the mother’s part and a disregard for child welfare to take a baby to a place where she could be restrained,” one tweeted.
Another added: “I don’t know what Arj Barker actually said or how he said it, but imagine being so selfish that you would choose to take a baby to a comic or any theater show and not leave if it starts crying.” Look how the fake communicators take over this one.
Sunrise hosts Matt Shirvington and Natalie Barr asked Barker if he could have handled the situation differently.
“There were some people shouting at the time. I wasn’t sure if they were shouting at me or her,” he recalled.
“They were a very chaotic few minutes.
‘At the time, I was just focused on… I was worried that she would be upset.
‘And I was like, ‘Look, you know, I’m so sorry.’
“I offered him a refund, which, you know, maybe not a big deal, but he was sincere.”
Barker presented his new show Mind Field at Melbourne’s Athenaeum Theater from March 28 to April 21.
Faranda later disputed Barker’s claims that he “gently” asked her to leave.
“If Arj had politely asked me to leave, like he says he did, I would have left,” she told Sunrise afterward.
‘I would have been mortified if we interrupted their flow and their show and I would never have talked about it.
But I don’t think that’s what happened.
“I feel like he used his position on that stage and his microphone to really intimidate me.”