A breastfeeding mother who was kicked off a comedy show because her baby was distracting the audience appeared on The Project to talk about her “humiliating” experience, only to be told by Sarah Harris to get the baby off screen.
Melbourne mother-of-three Trish Faranda and her seven-month-old baby Clara were kicked out of Arj Baker’s show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival on Saturday night, sparking a fierce debate over the actions of the American comedian.
Ms Faranda told The Project on Monday that she “had no idea things would end this way”.
Moments later, little Clara began crying, prompting Faranda to breastfeed her during the live interview.
Melbourne mother-of-three Trish Faranda and her seven-month-old baby Clara (pictured together) were asked to leave Arj Baker’s show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival on Saturday night.
After Ms Faranda’s interviews, some began to side with comedian Arj Baker (pictured).
As the little boy’s tears continued, Harris asked, ‘Maybe I can go to daddy for a second?’
The mother went on to say that she had already planned to leave the comedy show she had booked a month in advance if Clara started crying, but that she didn’t appreciate the way Baker handled the situation.
“I thought it would be really cool to do something I hadn’t done in a long time and go back to how I was before I was a baby,” she said.
‘…I could have said off the microphone: “It’s really disturbing me, do you mind?” and he would have happily packed up and left.
“Then he asked the crowd for support, basically telling me I should leave, and they heckled us a little bit as we were leaving.”
Baker, who was only 15 minutes into the show when the drama unfolded, said in a statement that the show is strictly PG-15 and is clearly indicated on the ticket site.
“On behalf of the other 700 people who paid to see the concert, I politely told her that the baby couldn’t stay,” she previously explained.
‘She thought I was joking, which made the exchange a little awkward.
‘I felt bad about the whole situation and I said it that night more than once. I offered him a refund.
“The theater staff shouldn’t have sat a baby in my audience in the first place.”
After Clara began crying during an interview, The Project panelist Sarah Harris (pictured) asked to be handed over to her father.
Barker presented his new show Mind Field at Melbourne’s Athenaeum Theater from March 28 to April 21.
Mrs. Faranda also appeared in A current issue on Monday, where he said Clara made no more noise than a person coughing.
“She started gurgling, babbling… but not for long, because then I gave her a quick meal and she went quiet.”
“I was attentive, I was looking around, people weren’t looking at us, so I thought, ‘Okay, we’re not impacting anyone that I know of.'”
While Australians initially called Baker’s dismissal of the mother “disgusting,” her interviews on Monday may have tilted public opinion in her favor.
“Wait, so a woman is asked to leave a comedy show because of her baby’s crying, then the woman goes on TV to complain and the baby has to leave the interview because of crying!” one person wrote on line.
“The interview just proved a point,” said another.
A third added: “I understand the feeling of losing your sense of self when you have a baby, but you don’t get it back by bringing your baby to everything.”
However, other commentators continued to support Ms Faranda.
‘If Arj is too distracted by a gurgling baby, he’s not as talented as he thought. ‘How does he handle hecklers and drunks,’ said one.