‘S**t joke’: Aussie disability campaigner heckles British comedian over ‘insenstive’ jokes
The Ausie shared a video of a heated exchange she had with a British comedian during his set.
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An Australian disability campaigner has slammed a British comedian over jokes about Type 1 diabetes.
Campaigner Carmen Azzopardi was watching Paul Foot at the Moth Club in Hackney, in London’s inner east, when the comedian launched into a 10-minute set filled with jokes about diabetics.
In a video she shared on TikTok, Azzopardi claimed that Foot poked fun at people who wear glucose monitors, before mimicking someone having a hypoglycaemic attack by shaking.
He also allegedly told the crowd that diabetics that suffer such episodes while wearing medical tech to help prevent them are “idiots” because they “don’t know how to use their technology”.
She said the comedian suggested diabetics have a “victim mentality” and that it’s “not a real illness”.
Speaking up during Foot’s set, Azzopardi shouted from the audience: “That was a s*** joke. I have Type 1 diabetes, that was extremely insensitive and miss-informative.”
Foot rebuffed Azzopardi’s heckling, insisting that he wasn’t being insensitive toward people who live with diabetes.
“I don’t think it’s up to you to decide if it’s insensitive or not,” continued the disability campaigner.
The comedian then insisted that “comedy is subjective” before going on to hit back at the Aussie woman for making the end of his set “awkward” for everyone in the audience.
“Due to the failure of you to grasp that simple intellectual point, cause you fail to grasp the difference between these issues, cause of that it’s ending in an awkward way,” he said.
Foot then called out Azzopardi for talking during the end of his set and told the audience that she was on the “emotional side” of an “intellectual argument”.
Azzopardi later added that the entire incident was “deeply embarrassing” for the British comedian.
“All in all, deeply embarrassing for him, deeply, deeply sickening to witness as someone who is living with that disease,” she said in the TikTok video.
“It’s probably one of the most blatant acts of ableism that I have ever personally experienced since being diagnosed with this illness, because that’s what it is, it’s an illness, not a punch line to a joke. I’ve never heckled/interrupted/called out during a show before but this was absolutely beyond disgusting and someone needed to say something.”
Comments on TikTok were divided, with Aussie radio host Abbie Chatfield remarking: “What a f**king loser … what is this niche diabetes beef???? Well done for standing up for yourself and others queen.”
“This is so weird? Did someone with diabetes break up with him? This is such a random gripe to have,” quizzed another.
However, others inferred that the campaigner needed to grow a thicker skin when going to comedy shows.
“I understand how insensitive that must have felt but isn’t this what comedy shows and satire is? It’s joking and making fun of sometimes serious topics,” replied one.
With another commenting: “While I admit his jokes definitely weren’t funny I don’t agree with the ‘you’re so brave standing up’ culture. I was at a gig were someone kicked off about a joke aimed at wearing glasses, it’s a joke it’s not real. If you are offended by jokes, even bad ones, just don’t go to comedy shows.”
News.com.au has contacted Foot and Azzopardi for comment.
Originally published as ‘S**t joke’: Aussie disability campaigner heckles British comedian over ‘insenstive’ jokes
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