In Canada, did a comedian s joke go too far?
Dan Bilefsky, New York Times
Feb. 20, 2021
FacebookTwitterEmail
Jeremy Gabriel, a singer with Treacher Collins syndrome, at his home in Quebec, Feb. 18, 2021. A Supreme Court case focused on a comedy routine mocking Gabriel as a disabled teenager could help shape the limits of free speech and humor in Canada. (Nasuna Stuart-Ulin/The New York Times)Nasuna Stuart-ulin/NYT
MONTREAL About a decade ago, comedian Mike Ward, of Quebec, mocked the voice of a well-known disabled teenage singer in a standup routine, roasting him for being off-key, making fun of his hearing aid and calling him “ugly.” But he said he had defended the boy to others because he would soon die. When the teen did not die of his illness, the comedian joked, he tried to drown him.