Comedian Arj Barker has come under fire for asking a breastfeeding mom to leave his comedy show. The American comedian, 49, was performing at the Melbourne Comedy Festival in Australia on Saturday, April 20, when a baby allegedly disrupted his set. The baby's mom, Trish Faranda, told 3AW that her baby "gurgled a little bit, probably the equivalent to someone coughing."
She explained to the outlet that Arj said, "I speak baby" and that her baby had told him "'take me outside,'" during his set, but she doesn't think he was truly joking. She also told the outlet that Arj was "intimidating" and made her feel "humiliated."
Later, Arj approached the mom again — and she said she was breastfeeding when the comedian told her to leave.
“People were laughing and I don’t think he was joking," she explained to the outlet. "So I said to him, 'Do you actually want me to leave?' And he said, 'Yes, I do.'"
The incident has sparked controversy, with some saying that the baby was truly disruptive and others reportedly walking out of the venue in support of Trish after the comedian asked her to leave.
Trish said that about 10 people walked out of the venue, while the New Zealand Herald reported that a witness saw about 30 people walk out in protest.
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An attendee named David told 3AW that "the baby was just being a baby" and was not doing anything overly disruptive. He called the moment when the comedian asked Trish to leave "unbelievably awkward."
However, another attendee, Steven Adlard, had a different perspective.
“It wasn’t a little bit of gurgling, it was crying. I was on the second level up and I could hear it,” Steven told the Guardian.
He also thought Arj was polite when he asked the mom to leave, though he admitted that the situation was an "upsetting thing for all people involved," including Trish.
On social media, opinions were also mixed. Some people on X — especially women — said men need to "do better."
"As a human with boobs that cumulatively breastfed for ~10 yrs (for numerous babies), if I had been excluded for my breastfeeding status I would NOT have: finished school, completed a bachelor degree, done a master degree, got a PhD, appeared on tv…" demographer Liz Allen wrote on X.
Others on the platform called the mom "entitled" and said babies don't belong in all spaces.
Comedian Freddie Quinne wrote that "babies don’t get automatic access to every public space. If they can’t stay quiet, then have the decency to leave."
Arj has also defended his actions. In a statement, the comedian said, "The show is strictly age 15-plus, as clearly stated on the ticket site. She had an infant with her, the baby was disrupting my performance. On behalf of the other 700 people who paid to see the gig, I politely told her the baby couldn’t stay."
“I felt bad about the whole situation and stated this on the night more than once. I offered her a refund. Theatre staff should not have seated a baby in my audience in the first place," Arj said in the statement.
The mom told 3AW that "you kind of lose yourself a little bit when you have kids. I was trying to get back to enjoying something that I enjoyed before kids."
One of Trish's relatives also took to X to share their thoughts on the situation.
"@arjbarker demanded my 7 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,'" the relative wrote on the platform.
"A woman has purchased a ticket, for a night out with her sister and friend, to laugh and enjoy herself and you badger her and encourage her to leave and get a refund," the relative continued in the same thread.
Trish's relative also praised "the countless women, and one grandfather, who left in protest."
