Melbourne Comedy Festival backflips on Humphries tribute

Organisers of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival have been called out as “gutless cowards” after a backflip on comedy legend Barry Humphries.

Organisers of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival have been called out as “gutless cowards” after a backflip that saw the festival release a tepid acknowledgment of comedy legend Barry Humphries.

Organisers on Monday night issued a statement saying they would plan a “fitting tribute” to Humphries, after declaring there would be no official tribute, and having earlier wiped his name from the Barry award.

“The news of Barry Humphries’ passing in the last 24 hours of the ’23 Fest was momentous,” the festival said in a statement.

“From today we re-group and start to plan a fitting tribute to his comic genius and leading role in creating a global platform for Australian comedy.”

But the tweet has since received backlash from a number of media personalities and fans who beg to differ with Sammy J and the festival’s opinions that Humphries hadn’t been “cancelled”.

“You gutless cowards cancelled him for standing up for women’s rights. You don’t get to un-cancel now he’s dead,” broadcaster Piers Morgan said while retweeting the festival’s statement.

“And to announce this two days after his death can only add to the grief of the family – who likely will be stunned and angered by the U-turn,” entertainment reporter Peter Ford added.

Meanwhile a fan added: “Hear hear. It’s shameful that he was cancelled in the first place. Vale Barry Humphries.”

Sammy J wades into debate

It comes as an Aussie comedian has weighed into the ugly backlash surrounding Humphries in the wake of the legend’s death.

Renowned funnyman Sammy J, who was on the Comedy Festival board when the prestigious Barry Award – named in Humphries’ honour – was renamed, says while he stands by the board’s decision, it doesn’t mean the legendary entertainer has been “cancelled”.

Sammy J has come forward to defend both Humphries and the board in the wake of backlash aimed at the International Comedy Festival which was accused of snubbing and “cancelling” him in the immediate aftermath of his death.

After providing some context in relation to how some comedians felt about Humphries’ comments regarding transgender people, Sammy J said the festival “had to make a choice” between hurting Humphries’ feelings or “ignoring and excluding members of a vulnerable community”.

“It chose the former,” Sammy J said in an opinion piece published by The Age, before explaining why.

“Arts festivals only exist if there are artists. And artists only take part in festivals they feel welcome at. Can you imagine being a trans comedian nominated for an award named after someone who’d wilfully torn down your sense of worth?

“No, neither can I. That’s the problem with being in a minority – most people will never understand what your journey’s been like. But in the absence of shared experience, we can still rely on empathy.”

Despite the decision being made, Sammy J said Humphries still made his way onto the front pages of newspapers globally and left a lasting legacy.

“Barry Humphries hasn’t been cancelled … That contribution included paving the way for comedians to speak up and rally against things with fire and passion, just like he did when he was young. It’s a legacy to be proud of,” he said.

Barry Humphries in 2021. Picture: David Benett/Getty Images

Sammy J’s comments come as the Melbourne International Comedy Festival explores ways to pay tribute to Barry Humphries’ “comic genius”.

Humphries, the celebrated Australian comedian, died at the age of 89 over the weekend, during the final weekend of the month-long annual festival in Melbourne.

The festival acknowledged his death in a statement on Saturday but decided not to include an official tribute to Humphries in the rest of its program. This was interpreted as an outrageous snub by some Australians, particularly on social media.

Humphries, who grew up in Melbourne, played a pivotal role in founding the festival, whose top award was named after him from 2000-2018. The Barry Award was then renamed after a backlash over Humphries’ controversial comments about transgender people, which included his description of gender affirmation surgery as “self-mutilation”.

It is now simply called the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award.

Humphries as his Dame Edna persona on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno in 2009.

“The news of Barry Humphries’ passing in the last 24 hours of the 2023 Festival was momentous,” the festival wrote on social media on Monday night.

“From today we regroup and start to plan a fitting tribute to his comic genius and leading role in creating a global platform for Australian comedy.”

‘We have not cancelled him’

Earlier, the festival’s director Susan Provan defended the event from those claiming it had “cancelled” Humphries.

“We’ve never cancelled Barry Humphries,” she told ABC radio in Melbourne.

“There seem 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 artist, who took Australian comedy global. We will always celebrate that he was amazing. And we really value his contribution to the comedy festival, too.”

Ms Provan said the festival’s decision to strip Humphries’ name from its top award was largely driven by artists, including previous winners of the award Hannah Gadsby and Zoe Coombs-Marr. She said Humphries had made “some comments that just did not reflect the values of our community”.

In 2018, Humphries described being transgender as “a fashion”, and in a previous 2016 interview declared those who underwent gender reassignment surgery were “mutilated men”. He also dubbed former Olympian Caitlyn Jenner, who is transgender, a “publicity seeking ratbag”.

‘How dare they’: Humphries’ critics blasted

Actress Miriam Margolyes, a longtime friend of Humphries, led a furious defence of him during a live Australian TV interview, calling his critics “disgraceful” and saying she was “outraged” by the backlash he’d received.

Barry Humphries in the 1990s. Picture: Ray Cash

And in 2007. Picture: Danny Martindale/FilmMagic

“I don’t think he was properly appreciated by Australia, and I don’t think he was properly treated, particularly by the Melbourne festival, who cancelled him, rather late in life,” she told ABC TV.

“How dare they. He had more talent in his little finger than they had in their whole bodies, all of them. I’m outraged by it, and I want to speak up now, to support him.”

Margolyes, who had known Humphries since she was a teenager, said she was able to separate the art from the artist, and encouraged others to do the same.

“It’s not about transgender. This was an artist, a great artist. A hugely funny, talented, witty satirist and observer of the human condition. He was acerbic, and he was often quite nasty. But he was a genius, and sometimes you have to accept that,” she argued.

“I’m lucky that I knew him for so long, and I’m furious at the way he was treated in Australia, I think it’s disgraceful.

“I didn’t like his politics, I really didn’t. But I revere the talent of the man, and if people can’t see that, they need something shoved up their bum.

“I’m not saying he was right in his politics – I told him to his face that he was wrong. But he was the greatest comic who ever lived.”