No, Arj Barker doesn’t have a problem with babies or breastfeeding in public. The American comedian took to his Instagram page earlier today (April 22) to address an incident that he has since dubbed “BabyGate,” with people accusing him of hushing a breastfeeding mom out of one of his shows.
Arj’s “let’s clear the air” Instagram post followed an incident that occurred during his show on Saturday (April 20) at the Melbourne Comedy Festival in Australia.
As per 3AW Breakfast, the comedian “sensationally kicked out a mother and her baby” at the Athenaeum Theatre where he was performing, prompting other members of the crowd to walk out in solidarity.
A spectator told the Australian Breakfast radio show today: “He stopped the show and said, ‘Can you take this baby outside?’, and the crowd wasn’t sure whether he was serious.
“It was unbelievably awkward.”
Comedian Arj Barker sparked outrage after telling a mother that her seven-month-old child couldn’t stay at one of his shows
Image credits: James D. Morgan/Getty Images
But it was a thread shared on X (formerly known as Twitter) that sparked worldwide outrage, with a certain Danielle Arbaci, who has since deactivated her account, sharing a rather disturbing account of what went down last weekend.
“Arj Barker demanded my seven-month-old cousin — who relies on her mum for milk (life), my mother, and my Aunty’s friend (also a mum) to leave his show, claiming the he/she was ‘ruining his train of thought’” Danielle wrote.
She continued: “Thanks to the countless women, and one grandfather, who left in protest. Atrocious.
“You’re in the city of Melbourne, at an International Comedy Festival. Have an ounce of respect.”
Arj emphasized the decision had been a “very rough call” that he made on behalf of the “other 700 or so audience members who deserved to see the show they had paid for, uninterrupted”
Image credits: stock.adobe.com
The outraged comedy-goer further alleged that Arj had “badgered” the mom of the seven-month-old and encouraged her group to leave and “get a refund.”
“With all of the hatred and violence women are faced with, among the countless atrocities happening within the world today, I ask you to simply take a long, hard look at yourself,” Danielle concluded.
With backlash growing online, the California native, whose real name is Arjan Singh Āulakh, clarified the situation from his own perspective, recalling: “I had just started my show last Sat night in Melbourne.
“The Atheneum was pretty full and everyone seemed in a great mood.
“Then I heard a baby – not crying but ‘talking’ as they do – a few rows from the stage.
“I made a few jokes about the baby not disrupting my show, and they were well received, then moved on. A few minutes later the baby called out again.
“Now I was quite concerned. In my experience of doing comedy for nearly 35 years, an audience focus is a delicate thing.
“If a noise or movement distracts people mid-joke, the payoff can be greatly diminished.”
According to X user @DJA2808, the comedian claimed the baby was “ruining his train of thought”
Image credits: daniellearbaci_
The 49-year-old went on to explain that with 50 minutes remaining of his show, he chose to make the “difficult” decision to “calmly” inform the woman holding the baby to leave.
“I felt bad doing so and stated this at the time as well as several times throughout the remainder of the show,” Arj wrote. “As she was leaving, I offered for her to get a refund, as a gesture of goodwill.”
The comedian emphasized the decision had been a “very rough call” that he made on behalf of the “other 700 or so audience members who deserved to see the show they had paid for, uninterrupted.”
The Californian also clarified that while some people had left as a result of his decision, “97% of the audience remained and the show was well received.”
Arj went on to refute allegations that he had dismissed the woman for breastfeeding, as he could not even see his audience well enough to notice such details.
“This was all to do with audio disruption of my show, nothing more,” the comedian added. “For the record, I support public breastfeeding, as it’s perfectly natural.”
He concluded: “I’ve nothing against babies, in fact, I was one once, for almost two years.”
Arj stated that the issue “was all to do with [the] audio disruption of [his] show, nothing more”
Image credits: arjbarker/joelozborn
The stand-up star’s statement ignited different reactions, as an Instagram user commented: “Who the hell takes a seven-month-old to a comedy night.”
Another person commented: “I was there, the row behind the baby.
“My partner and I saw her walk in and looked at each other.
“She was four rows from the front in the middle of the row, so definitely not close to the edge like she said.
“She WAS NOT breastfeeding feeding, and hushing the baby every time it made noise so she knew it shouldn’t be.
“I am a mother myself, a single mother at that for many years, I would never have brought my baby to a comedy show.
“It is not acceptable and it’s very selfish.
“Get your baby looked after like everyone else or stay home and put it to bed.
“It was way past its bedtime. And the baby doesn’t want to be there. It has no interest in a comedy show.”
The stand-up star refuted allegations that he had dismissed the woman for breastfeeding, as he could not even see his audience well enough to notice such details
Image credits: arjbarker
“Why does one person think that they are more important than everyone else, I worked hard to raise my child, on my own and would never have considered this.
“She was never thinking of getting up and leaving.
“There were at least 10 people on her way to the end of the row.”
Someone else penned: “Out of curiosity: Do you ask hecklers to leave your show?
“How about people with coughs? People with tics? Autistic people with verbal stims?
“Where do you draw the line at natural human noises during a show?”
An additional person wrote: “The audience paid their hard-earned money to hear you Arj, not the baby.”
A separate individual chimed in: “So most/all of these comments is [sic] pretty much saying that if you have a baby you can’t leave the house.”
Bored Panda has contacted Danielle for comment.
Most people agreed with Arj’s decision, arguing that comedy shows aren’t suitable places for a baby
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