Unseen backstage act reveals the real Arj Barker amid furore over the comedian kicking a breastfeeding mother out of his Melbourne Comedy Festival show
Arj Barker sparked a huge backlash over ejecting a breastfeeding mother out of his Melbourne Comedy Festival show, but a top comedian has now come to his defence.
American comedian Arj, 49, asked mother-of-three Trish Faranda to leave his show for being disruptive on Saturday, prompting an online discussion about who was in the wrong.
Amid the furore, Australian funnyman Ethan Marrell, better known as Ozzy Man Reviews, has flocked to Arj's defence and revealed his kind unseen backstage act.
The YouTube star, 38, told how Arj went out of his way to make him feel at ease when he was starting out as a comic in the mid-2000s, sharing their backstage interaction.
Giving his view on the recent controversy, Ethan came to Arj's support and insisted he is a 'top bloke' with no 'ego' as he gushed over his supportive nature.
Arj Barker (pictured) sparked a backlash over ejecting a breastfeeding mother out of his Melbourne Comedy Festival show, but a top comedian has now come to his defence
He recalled how Arj spoke to himself and other nervous new comedians before one big show to make sure his material didn't overlap with theirs, and changed parts of his set so he didn't 'step on their shoes'.
According to news.com.au, Arj shared: '[Arj] was altering his material 30 minutes before the show and making sure he didn't step on the toes of the competing budding comics. Is that not bl**dy lovely?'
'My core point is … the bloke does not have an ego, and I learnt from a very young age how f***en cool and nice that was,' he went on.
'He stepped out of his own way to make sure he wasn't taking all the glory as an MC on a night that was likely going to be memorable for lots of us newbies.
'It may not seem like much, but this was a pretty big national competition in the early 2000s, so I've always appreciated and remembered his integrity.'
American comedian Arj (pictured), 49, asked mother-of-three Trish Faranda to leave his show for being disruptive on Saturday night, prompting a huge online furore
Ethan also addressed the furore about the breastfeeding mother being kicked out of Arj's show for being disruptive, insisting the comedian never should have had to address it on stage in the first place.
It comes after Arj responded to the backlash over him ejecting mother-of-three Trish Faranda from his Melbourne Comedy Festival show on Saturday.
The stand-up performer has made a peace offering to the breastfeeding mother he asked to leave his show for being disruptive, but said he also stands by his decision.
Ms Faranda claimed that she was humiliated and reduced to tears when she and her seven-month-old daughter Clara were booted from the theatre.
She claimed Clara 'had a bit of a whinge' before she gave her a feed, with Arj asking her to leave about 15 minutes into the gig because they were 'disrupting his show'.
But Australian funnyman Ethan Marrell (pictured), better known as Ozzy Man Reviews, has since flocked to his defence and revealed Arj's unseen backstage act
However, Arj said on Tuesday that baby Clara should not have been at his over-15s show in the first place.
But he also apologised to Ms Faranda for the embarrassment caused and made a light-hearted attempt to make amends.
'I hope you're doing okay. I'm sorry that that was a difficult situation, and I would like to make peace,' he told Sunrise on Tuesday.
'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.'
He went on to admit that it was an unfortunate and tricky situation for everyone involved.
The YouTube star (pictured), 38, told how Arj went out of his way to make him feel at ease when he was starting out as a comic in the mid-2000s, sharing their sweet backstage interaction
'I'm not gonna hide because I want people to know the truth of what happened, at least from my perspective,' he said.
'Both myself and the woman were put in a position we shouldn't have been in.'
Arj insisted he has no issue with public breastfeeding which he described as perfectly natural, and said he did not know that's what she 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,' he continued.
'I want to make that really clear because it's been mentioned so much I had, and if she was, I wouldn't care.'
He acknowledged that the baby was not screaming but that her 'cute' noises were distracting the audience.
It comes after Arj responded to the backlash over him ejecting Trish Faranda and her baby Clara (pictured) from his show, giving a peace offering while also standing by his decision
'It's about the crowd enjoying an immersive experience of watching a comedy show with timing and pauses and getting drawn into the show,' he explained.
'As a performer, I have a right to ask a disruptive audience member to leave the show.
'Unfortunately, it was a cute little baby at this time and nothing to do with the mum or the gender of the parent. If it was a father, I would have said the exact same thing.
'From where I'm standing on stage, I'm merely trying to create a nice environment to perform my show.'
