Lesbian insults spur human rights complaint against comic
CBC reports:
(Vancouver, Canada) Lorna Pardy filed a complaint alleging she and her lesbian partner were the targets the offensive comments made by Guy Earle (pictured), who was hosting the open mic night at Zesty's Restaurant on Commercial Drive in May 2007. Earle doesn't deny he was offensive, but claims Pardy and her same-sex partner first rudely heckled him, along with the amateur comics onstage that night. He told CBC News Wednesday that he lost his cool and shot back with some deliberately offensive lines of his own to shut them up.
There's much more to this story...
Natasha Barsotti, Xtra West writes:
Following what he calls his on-stage "tirade," Earle says he walked past the table where the women were seated and was doused with a glass of water. After the show, he says he went back to the women's table to make peace with them, but more water was thrown at him. Frigon's account confirms that the women threw water in Earle's face. It also alleges that the comedian later returned to their table, took one of the women's glasses and broke them. Earle does not deny it. "I took the sunglasses off her head and broke them in half," he admits. He says he regrets breaking the glasses, and offered "publicly" to replace them. But he argues that he was "assaulted" twice before reacting.
and this...
David Wylie, Canwest News Service writes:
However, in a November 2007 interview with the Internet-based Dave and Chuck Show, Earle spoke more openly about what he said at the show. "This is like an audio affidavit here," he stammered when asked what he said. However, Earle continued: "I said, 'come on - you're fat and ugly, you're not even lesbian, no guy will f--k you, that's why you're with each other.'" Then he suggested they perform fellatio to keep from talking. "Which one of you wears the strap-on dildo?" he asked.
Earle said one of Pardy's complaints was he told her and her friends to go home and use a sex toy on each other. But Earle argued he instead told them to use a strap-on sex toy on him. "There's a big difference. You just change one little verb and you take it out of context and all of a sudden it's time for me to drink a glass of hemlock," he said. "They were drunk, they were being jerks and I was very rude and visceral to them because, like I said, if you have a heckler what you want to do is put them in their place by offending them, so I tried to hit them where it hurts and the only thing I had to key on was the fact that they were lesbians. "I don't care if they're lesbians, heterosexuals, homosexuals or giraffes."
Earle said the complaint is an attack on comedians' right to perform. "I would never have expected it would get escalated to a philosophical battle." He added it's been more than 40 years since controversial U.S. comic Lenny Bruce was jailed for obscenity over his comic material - "and we're still fighting the same battle. I know it's a fight I can never win. But I've got to keep fighting."
Earle is holding a benefit concert on July 19 in Toronto to raise money for his legal fees.
So what do you think?
Did this comic go too far?
Does Lorna Pardy have a case?
Associated Press reports:
