Read on Twitter
Seeing lots of “Irish and US comedy scenes are very rapey” tweets. English scene is also very rapey, if we’re making a list. It’s discussed so openly too. I’ve watched a rapist call out an audience member for not being feminist enough at a gig booked by another rapist ‘feminist’.
https://twitter.com/idilsukan/status/1274761752882958336?s=21 https://twitter.com/idilsukan/status/1274761752882958336
https://twitter.com/timidheathen/status/1274767516309561345?s=21 https://twitter.com/timidheathen/status/1274767516309561345
When abusers start getting called out in the comedy industry, I feel a mixture of gratitude to the people speaking up and anger at performative empathy from the “but he wasn’t creepy to me” women and the men who are as guilty and complicit as the other men they’re calling out.
The people in comedy who are predatory and sexually violent are not all men. Mainly but not exclusively.
I freelance in the comedy industry sometimes. So many abusers propped up by the indifference of creeps. It’s more apparent than it is in other industries I’ve worked in. Less underground because of the club/pub environment. Most people at gigs are drinking. Alcohol amps it up. https://twitter.com/kathbum/status/1275079547545739267
https://twitter.com/timidheathen/status/1275112574095368192?s=21 https://twitter.com/timidheathen/status/1275112574095368192
I’ve never done stand-up but I‘ve done other comedy related jobs. I DM’d a comedian a couple of hours ago to say I wonder if any of the ones being outed as rapey will be people on my list. Because of that list there are so many gigs I can’t ever go to again. Work I can’t do. https://twitter.com/JNRaeside/status/1274998015565221890
We do all have lists. https://twitter.com/howlieT/status/1275191591918014465
I went to a big comedy gig that had a line-up of white, straight, cis, middle aged men. All of them did sexist material. When I went in the green room, I was the only woman there and the men were all chanting “Rape, rape, rape!” as a joke.
https://twitter.com/lousanders/status/1274826844429258752?s=21 https://twitter.com/LouSanders/status/1274826844429258752
https://twitter.com/lousanders/status/1274826844429258752?s=21 https://twitter.com/LouSanders/status/1274826844429258752
The first thing I did was text a comedian friend who’s a woman and tell her exactly what was happening and warn her about which of her colleagues it was. When there’s only one woman on the bill, which is still common, they’re in that environment all the time.
There was the guy I met who drives comedians around the country. He showed a picture of Claudia Schiffer’s 14 year old daughter to the comedians I was with. All men. One pointed out her age. The driver said he’d take the prison sentence if he could fuck her. No one said anything.
Immediately afterwards, I heard him whisper something very creepy about my appearance to the comedian I was on a date with and congratulate him for dating me because of it. He just replied “thank you.” I did not continue seeing him.
About a decade ago at the Edinburgh Fringe festival, it was The Year of The Rape Joke. It was a distinct trend a year before feminists started to push back and gain prominence again. I defended those jokes in my early 20s. Convinced myself I was stupid and the men were right. https://twitter.com/JFDerry/status/1275204234619863042
There was the 50+ comedian who perved on 16 year olds. He yelled and punched a wall when I said how much I’d hated being out with his rapey comedian friends. I had to apologise because I had nowhere else to stay. Stand-ups often have to stay with creeps they work for/with.
If you’ve read/watched interviews or seen panels I’ve done where I’ve talked about biphobic rape, the people I was talking about work in comedy.
There’s the comedian men passively talk about for being predatory to people working at venues. Buys underage people so many drinks they don’t remember the night except being made to strip for this guy and his mates. I hope you get that TV gig, people who could’ve stopped it.
https://twitter.com/discoagogo/status/1275329149901647874?s=21 https://twitter.com/discoagogo/status/1275329149901647874
https://twitter.com/discoagogo/status/1275330132413202433?s=21 https://twitter.com/discoagogo/status/1275330132413202433
The last guy I tweeted about has been on prime time TV for years too. https://twitter.com/discoagogo/status/1275330595846074369
Media lawyers and a journalist who interviewed me told me that my previous non-lawyered references to the biphobic rapists meant they could sue me. Me on trial not them, despite clear medical evidence from the hospital, lots of messages from the time etc. Oh well. We’ll see. https://twitter.com/uncletypewriter/status/1274682346105643010
I’m sorry - I meant to say the alleged perpetrators of serious sexual assault could sue me. Typo.
Every man in comedy who’s reading all these tweets from women and nonbinary people and saying 0, we’re watching you all. We really are. You’re being talked about as much as the abusers. We don’t trust any of you to do the right thing. If you want to stop being shitty people 
https://twitter.com/JenKirkman/status/1275124989692272641
https://twitter.com/JenKirkman/status/1275124989692272641
https://twitter.com/jnraeside/status/1275360945217376258?s=21 https://twitter.com/JNRaeside/status/1275360945217376258
https://twitter.com/maisieadam/status/1275037845758115840?s=21 https://twitter.com/MaisieAdam/status/1275037845758115840
I had a favourite compere who I loved until I started seeing him off stage mansplaining that mansplaining doesn’t exist, saying sexist comics aren’t sexist, women shagged their way to the top etc. In fact @robinince shut him up. Never seen a man call out another man irl before. https://twitter.com/MaisieAdam/status/1275085391889039360
Didn’t know about him. https://twitter.com/lulu_popplewell/status/1275410433114083329
When I was 19, a 40ish radio comedian was gigging near my flat. Offered me a ticket. No hint of strings attached. He was clearly disappointed that I brought my boyfriend. Talked at us about his wife for 2 hours while staring down my top, hardly blinking. Everyone hates him.
Most men in comedy aren’t RTing the stories about abuse in the industry. I wonder if it’s because then we’d know they knew and they’d be obligated to act. it’s ok to work for or with rapists if you pretend you didn’t know. Even better if you can convince people it’s lies anyway. https://twitter.com/FernBrady/status/1275507012244328448
You find out that not only were you friends with abusers but you were friends with people who’ll still happily associate with them. These people who were violent, creepy and sexist to me call themselves feminists publicly. So do those who validate them. https://twitter.com/chrissymeds/status/1275868469422985217?s=21
https://twitter.com/tashgoldstone/status/1275107637894492160?s=21 https://twitter.com/TashGoldstone/status/1275107637894492160
I’ve also been thinking about all the ways people can use their trusted status to remove even more of our control. About how much abuse is facilitated by gutless silence. Your silence this week is still very much noted. You know these are your mates and colleagues. https://twitter.com/bishakali/status/1274994464277164033
https://twitter.com/sofiehagen/status/1274962850503692294?s=21 https://twitter.com/SofieHagen/status/1274962850503692294
One of the creepers I described in this thread is now retweeting his colleagues’ stories of abuse. After all, it is his duty as a Top Feminist. 
This RT is literally the story of wall-punching guy from further up my thread. And I don’t know why I rounded up the 15 year old’s age to 16 like he did. He was never good at lying or maths. If you’re reading this, hi, I did check those girls’ ages. You know - your mate’s 3 kids. https://twitter.com/Comedian_Sorry/status/1277264030936285185
https://twitter.com/jenkirkman/status/1275124989692272641?s=21 https://twitter.com/jenkirkman/status/1275124989692272641
https://twitter.com/jenafriedman/status/1273443686206984192?s=21 https://twitter.com/JenaFriedman/status/1273443686206984192
https://twitter.com/robintran04/status/1273399356255690753?s=21 https://twitter.com/robintran04/status/1273399356255690753
https://twitter.com/robintran04/status/1273391989283676160?s=21 https://twitter.com/robintran04/status/1273391989283676160
https://twitter.com/elizaskinner/status/1274226924538101762?s=21 https://twitter.com/elizaskinner/status/1274226924538101762
https://twitter.com/elizaskinner/status/1274818180335075328?s=21 https://twitter.com/elizaskinner/status/1274818180335075328
I remember sitting with a group of people who work in comedy and wanted me to promote their stuff. They spent ages discussing rape accusations against colleagues and pranks involving rape jokes. They all work with each other. Turned out they all abuse women. Who’d have thought? https://twitter.com/elizaskinner/status/1274848700091662337
Most men in comedy do seem to think looking away from abuse is part of their job. I do mean most. https://twitter.com/elizaskinner/status/1274706288035811329
https://twitter.com/thesofiya/status/1275605163164614658?s=21 https://twitter.com/TheSofiya/status/1275605163164614658
https://twitter.com/sarahpinsent/status/1275874658877935616?s=21 https://twitter.com/sarahpinsent/status/1275874658877935616
https://twitter.com/fairycakes/status/1274471005491265537?s=21 https://twitter.com/fairycakes/status/1274471005491265537
I’ve freelanced in so many different industries and comedy has absolutely been the most dangerous in terms of harassment and assault of women and nonbinary people. https://twitter.com/catcalamitycat/status/1275522490480168960
https://twitter.com/stevedoherty1/status/1277177196365348870?s=21 https://twitter.com/SteveDoherty1/status/1277177196365348870
https://twitter.com/stevedoherty1/status/1277177204112265228?s=21 https://twitter.com/SteveDoherty1/status/1277177204112265228
https://twitter.com/merylorourke/status/1277329972227702785?s=21 https://twitter.com/merylorourke/status/1277329972227702785
https://twitter.com/gralefrit/status/1277166733552427010?s=21 https://twitter.com/gralefrit/status/1277166733552427010
It’s not just men in stand-up who are silent. It’s men in the entire comedy industry. TV, radio, writers, directors, men who started off in stand-up and now work on other projects. It’s the whole industry being discussed. Your silence makes you complicit.
https://twitter.com/idilsukan/status/1277307913028042752?s=21 https://twitter.com/idilsukan/status/1277307913028042752
https://twitter.com/idilsukan/status/1277307913028042752?s=21 https://twitter.com/idilsukan/status/1277307913028042752
If you think your mate is creepy or pushy when they flirt with people, imagine what they’re like when you’re not around. Strange that so many women and nonbinary people have been raped but you don’t think you know any rapists.
https://twitter.com/gralefrit/status/1277168298669588482?s=21 https://twitter.com/gralefrit/status/1277168298669588482
https://twitter.com/lauralexx/status/1274784435947409409?s=21 https://twitter.com/lauralexx/status/1274784435947409409
https://twitter.com/smokeythebandit/status/1277940254197022720?s=21 https://twitter.com/smokeythebandit/status/1277940254197022720
“He wasn’t creepy to me” is a response I got about a comedian who talked to me about teenagers he fancied. One was 15. Another ex-friend still talks to him too. I told them about the 17 year olds, which I guess gets a pass if the comedian is useful to you.
https://twitter.com/kristinrawls/status/1275569474050154501?s=21 https://twitter.com/kristinrawls/status/1275569474050154501
https://twitter.com/kristinrawls/status/1275569474050154501?s=21 https://twitter.com/kristinrawls/status/1275569474050154501
I see one of the men in this thread is following @Comedian_Sorry. Good to get apology ideas for that inevitable career dooming moment. Keep making those notes bro - you haven’t written any other new material since 2005.
https://twitter.com/frizfrizzle/status/1274785621882671105?s=21 https://twitter.com/FrizFrizzle/status/1274785621882671105
I wonder how successful the Live Comedy Association will be as an HR department. Would more people really come forward about abuse if their legal fees were covered? Hardly any. Wouldn’t be worth it. There would have to be a complete culture change first.
https://twitter.com/iamchelseahart/status/1278024172212490241?s=21 https://twitter.com/iamchelseahart/status/1278024172212490241
https://twitter.com/iamchelseahart/status/1278024172212490241?s=21 https://twitter.com/iamchelseahart/status/1278024172212490241
One comedian people are sharing articles about was defended by Carter-Ruck. They defend international war criminals. You’d need war criminal cash to stand the vaguest, most minuscule chance of protecting yourself from a rich, powerful abuser who’s suing you for telling the truth.
Sorry, I mean they defend people who definitely aren’t international war criminals.
https://twitter.com/kemahbob/status/1278398957916430337?s=21 https://twitter.com/kemahbob/status/1278398957916430337
A *second* man has been forced out of the new UK comedy anti sex pest organisation because he’s a sex pest. That’s 2 in about 4 days. All these men call themselves feminists to lull their prey into a false sense of security and mask their chronic sex pesting issues.
This was the first eliminated sex pest, if you’re making a spreadsheet of them. https://twitter.com/BritishComedy/status/1276926063399092224
Longest, weirdest thread. Loads of readers but half can’t and half won’t publicly engage with the topic. Half can’t because they’re survivors who’d risk their safety, job and getting sued. The other half are abruptly silent, fantastically disappointing gutless comedy bellends.
https://twitter.com/livecomedyuk/status/1276112002973405185?s=21 https://twitter.com/livecomedyuk/status/1276112002973405185
https://twitter.com/sophiedukebox/status/1278601697569517568?s=21 https://twitter.com/sophiedukebox/status/1278601697569517568
OOF 
You have to open the picture to access the full unadulterated oof.
Lots of people in the comedy industry tweeting about Ghislaine Maxwell, Prince Andrew, Epstein. After a week, you haven’t tweeted or retweeted one thing about exposure of sexual violence perpetrated by your colleagues in your industry. Thought you liked celeb sex offence gossip?
Had a look at another comedy creeper’s twitter. He’s tweeting about harassment. I saw him compere and he spent the entire gig trying to bully an audience member into stripping. At the end, this comedian got in his face and called him a cunt off-mic where he thought no one saw.
https://twitter.com/comedysavage/status/1273165666162479104?s=21 https://twitter.com/comedysavage/status/1273165666162479104
https://twitter.com/whitneycummings/status/1276298347863699456?s=21 https://twitter.com/whitneycummings/status/1276298347863699456
https://twitter.com/greg_jenner/status/1277590171521814528?s=21 https://twitter.com/greg_jenner/status/1277590171521814528
https://twitter.com/ishbel17/status/1275238771261353984?s=21 https://twitter.com/ishbel17/status/1275238771261353984
https://twitter.com/robgilroy/status/1275095624606715905?s=21 https://twitter.com/robgilroy/status/1275095624606715905
https://twitter.com/chelseaperetti/status/1274761676445724672?s=21 https://twitter.com/chelseaperetti/status/1274761676445724672
https://twitter.com/ohrhealy/status/1274764783456313352?s=21 https://twitter.com/ohrhealy/status/1274764783456313352
I saw a booker ask a 50+ comedian to do a uni fresher gig. Awful money but he said he’d do it because of all the young girls. He‘s fixated and bitter that 15-21 year olds look right through him when he gawps at them. He could be their grandad. Their sad perv grandad.
https://twitter.com/sorobotic/status/1276974681501962241?s=21 https://twitter.com/sorobotic/status/1276974681501962241
https://twitter.com/serenalawless/status/1276998510072774662?s=21 https://twitter.com/serenalawless/status/1276998510072774662
https://twitter.com/lexcanroar/status/1280197182981836800?s=21 https://twitter.com/lexcanroar/status/1280197182981836800
https://twitter.com/socialistbangrs/status/1280541161598435328?s=21 https://twitter.com/socialistbangrs/status/1280541161598435328
In this case, the girl dropped the charges but the police didn’t. I was 19 when my ex and I saw Trevor take a 16 year old’s number at their radio show around the time this happened. I remember thinking she was 2 years younger than Russell’s ‘girlfriend’. https://www.digitalspy.com/showbiz/a36972/brands-co-host-charged-with-rape/
“After an examination showed she had been involved in sexual activity she complained to police. She has now been interviewed by officers and has been examined for forensic evidence.” Police wouldn’t drop it. BBC binned him. Incident removed from Wikipedia. https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/drugged-raped-bb-star-brand-17977949.amp
Is that 2007 David Walliams video a couple of tweets up actually from Little Britain or is it Come Fly With Me or something else? The one where he’s pretending to be a sex offender in a very convincing way.
Juuuust fyi, if you and someone you’re with are on drugs, it’s not an excuse for raping them. When I was 18 I got so high I thought I was a wise beetle who lived on a window and my mates thought they were a firefighter and a tape measure. Still didn’t accidentally rape anyone.
https://twitter.com/benglc/status/1280823981524779009?s=21 https://twitter.com/benglc/status/1280823981524779009
https://twitter.com/benglc/status/1280823970619691009?s=21 https://twitter.com/benglc/status/1280823970619691009
It was the responses to idil’s first thread (2nd tweet in my evil fuck-off megathread) that solidified to me how disingenuous most lefty men in comedy are. Everyone starts from a place of disbelief so it’s our jobs to justify why cunty men shouldn’t be booked for shitty podcasts. https://twitter.com/idilsukan/status/1280129778755014659
https://twitter.com/scriblit/status/1281160789508882434?s=21 https://twitter.com/scriblit/status/1281160789508882434
https://twitter.com/rsk_85/status/1280113945978695680?s=21 https://twitter.com/rsk_85/status/1280113945978695680
Hi narcissists! Having mental health problems isn’t an excuse for abusing someone. Having been abused yourself isn’t an excuse for abusing someone else and neither does it give you the right to declare that everyone except you might be lying. Bye narcissists!
It’s the gutless, endlessly disappointing behaviour of most men in comedy that taught me how damaging hero worship is. My “no more idols” moment came from you. 99.9% of you are hammering that point home this month. Nice one guys, at least you’ve been useful in one respect. https://twitter.com/eleanortiernan/status/1281887850695471105
Encountered yet another comic who’s still promoting work by his abuser friends. I mean, like, he didn’t rape anyone tho?
Rapey and rapist aren’t always the same thing but they both mean I never want to be trapped in a job, relationship or lift with him.
https://twitter.com/jnraeside/status/1280755657902297088?s=21 https://twitter.com/jnraeside/status/1280755657902297088
Rapey and rapist aren’t always the same thing but they both mean I never want to be trapped in a job, relationship or lift with him.
https://twitter.com/jnraeside/status/1280755657902297088?s=21 https://twitter.com/jnraeside/status/1280755657902297088
Given that I was raped by a man and a woman in the comedy industry, you might wonder why I’m not focusing equally on abuse by women. It’s because there is not a cultural acceptance of high levels of sexual violence and harassment carried out by women or nonbinary people.
https://twitter.com/comedian_sorry/status/1280070619900583937?s=21 https://twitter.com/comedian_sorry/status/1280070619900583937
One of many threads and articles about Hardeep Singh Kohli https://twitter.com/lorajoneswriter/status/1281529711655555073
Wow, I didn’t realise Hardeep was just continuing to tweet as if he hadn’t been outed as a professional sex pest. https://twitter.com/dannywallace/status/1281674952081637381
Thank you @dannywallace for being one of very, very few men who have spoken out about abuse in comedy. If you’re continuing to be silent, you’re complicit. If you don’t believe the survivors coming forward, you’re complicit. If you don’t act on what you know, you’re complicit.
From @nicolathorp_’s article about Hardeep Singh Kohli: “Some predatory men will often actively involve themselves in feminist causes to hide in plain sight.”
Most abusers in my thread do this. Nice feminists from nice indie gigs and nice indie companies.
https://metro.co.uk/2020/07/03/im-grateful-women-who-spoke-about-hardeep-singh-kohli-meant-12939613/
Most abusers in my thread do this. Nice feminists from nice indie gigs and nice indie companies.
https://metro.co.uk/2020/07/03/im-grateful-women-who-spoke-about-hardeep-singh-kohli-meant-12939613/
