New twist after Humphries backlash

Humphries, the celebrated Australian comic, died on the age of 89 over the weekend, throughout the last weekend of the month-long annual pageant in Melbourne.

The pageant acknowledged his dying in a press release on Saturday however determined to not embrace an official tribute to Humphries in the remainder of its program. This was interpreted as an outrageous snub by some Australians, significantly on social media.

Humphries, who grew up in Melbourne, performed a pivotal function in founding the pageant, whose prime award was named after him from 2000-2018. The Barry Award was then renamed after a backlash over Humphries’ controversial feedback about transgender folks, which included his description of gender affirmation surgical procedure as “self-mutilation”.

It is now merely referred to as the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award.

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

“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 pageant’s director Susan Provan defended the occasion from these claiming it had “cancelled” Humphries.

“We’ve never cancelled Barry Humphries,” she instructed 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 mentioned the pageant’s resolution to strip Humphries’ identify from its prime award was largely pushed by artists, together with earlier winners of the award Hannah Gadsby and Zoe Coombs-Marr. She mentioned 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 earlier 2016 interview declared those that underwent gender reassignment surgical procedure had been “mutilated men”. He additionally dubbed former Olympian Caitlyn Jenner, who’s transgender, a “publicity seeking ratbag”.

‘How dare they’: Humphries’ critics blasted

Actress Miriam Margolyes, a longtime pal of Humphries, led a livid defence of him throughout a reside Australian TV interview, calling his critics “disgraceful” and saying she was “outraged” by the backlash he’d obtained.

“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 instructed 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 identified Humphries since she was a teen, mentioned she was in a position to separate the artwork from the artist, and inspired others to do the identical.

“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.”