"I've been attacked": Barry Humphries' response to Comedy Festival incident
Anti-trans campaigner Graham Linehan has shared an email he received from the late Barry Humphries in the response to the fallout from the Melbourne International Comedy Festival incident.
In 2019, Humphries name was removed from one of the key awards at the annual comedy festival after he made comments ridiculing transgender people, included labelling gender affirmation surgery as “self-mutilation”.
In an interview in 2018, Humphries branded being transgender “a fashion” and criticised teachers who support trans youth in schools, declaring it a "pretty evil" practice.
As a result, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, which was partly founded by Humphries, renamed their 'Barry Award' amid the controversy.
Now, just days after Humphries passing, writer and anti-trans campaigner Graham Linehan has shared an email he allegedly received from Humphries after the renaming of the award.
The email purportedly from Humphries said, “Thanks for your letter. I’ve been banned by the Melbourne Comedy Festival which Peter Cook and I launched! I’ve been attacked and branded fascist and ‘transphobic’ by the ‘they’ brigade, and accused of racism by people who have never met an [Indigenous person]."
“That actors who have become rich and famous by performing in JKR’s plays and films and then vindictively excoriated her, seems to me a cowardly betrayal. Thanks for writing to me and good luck against a powerful and malign foe.”
Humphries appears to be referring to J.K. Rowling by “JKR”, as the Harry Potter creator is one of the most high-profile anti-trans campaigners and refers to herself as “TERF”, an acronym for “trans-exclusionary radical feminist”.
Linehan co-created TV comedies including Father Ted, Black Books and The IT Crowd but has in recent years become better known for his strident anti-trans views.
In the wake of Humphries’ death, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s 2019 decision has come under attack by some commentators, who accused the festival of “cancelling” the comedian.
However, festival’s director Susan Provan defended the organisation for their decision, while also paying tribute to Humphries' influence on comedy.
She told ABC radio in Melbourne, “We’ve never cancelled Barry Humphries. There seems to be some misconceptions going on around there. We changed the name of an award, which… was the right decision to make when we did that."
“We have celebrated, and continue to celebrate Barry, an incredible comedian, comic artists, who took Australian comedy global. We will always celebrate that he was amazing. And we really value his contribution to the comedy festival too.”
Provan added the decision had been made in 2019 because Humphries’ “comments did not reflect the values of our community”.
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