Indian-origin comedian Arj Barker tried to 'intimidate me’, says mom asked to leave show

Arj Barker is facing a huge backlash after he asked a woman to leave his show in Melbourne, Australia because her baby caused ‘audio disruption’.

Trish Faranda, a mother of two, who was asked by Indian-origin comedian Arj Barker to leave his show in Melbourne, has spoken out about the incident that has left the social media divided. Barker is facing intense backlash after he asked the woman, who had brought her baby along, to leave the venue in the middle of the show.

Arj Barker, an Indian-origin comedian, is based in Melbourne. (Instagram/arjbarker)

Barker defended his decision saying he made the mother and baby leave his show only because of "audio disruption" of his show and not because she may have been breastfeeding.

“He said he politely asked me to leave. If he had politely asked me to leave, I don't think I'd be talking to anybody about it at all,” Trish Faranda, a resident of Werribee, Victoria, told 9 News Australia.

Faranda said Barker used the mic and his position on the stage to “intimidate” her in front of the 700-member audience.

"I would have been mortified that I had interrupted the show and I would have been quicker than you could blink. But that's not what he did,” Faranda told the news channel based in Australia.

“It's not what I felt and it's not what other people witnessed either. He came over, he was on the mic and he was using the mic and his position on the stage to intimidate me. He did that in front of all those people and then he called on the crowd to support him in it.”

The woman said she took her baby to the show as the child is dependent on her, adding that she would have never brought her elder, five-year-old son along.

When asked if she would accept Arj Barker’s apology, Faranda said she has not heard an apology from him.

“I haven't heard an apology. I've heard him offering free tickets to his show,” she said.

“While he is using the mic, it feels like it's part of the show. I'm not sure if he is being serious or not. Had he come off the mic and spoken to me, I would have known he was serious and I would have been out of there super quick.”

Read Arj Barker's full statement on Instagram here:

Arj Barker, whose full name is Arjan Singh Aulak, meanwhile, appeared on the same show as well as shared a statement on Instagram, to set the record straight, saying he has no issue with breastfeeding. He said that the baby's sounds disrupted his show and made him momentarily lose focus.