Arj Barker has addressed the backlash around ejecting a breastfeeding woman from his comedy show as he returned to the stage this week for the first time since the furore.
The American comedian, 49, sparked controversy when he asked mother-of-three Trish Faranda and her baby Clara to leave his Melbourne Comedy Festival show for being disruptive.
Amid the backlash, Arj has stood by his actions, explaining his comedy show was ticketed for over-15s and a baby shouldn't have been there in the first place.
He poked fun at the online storm as he returned to stage at The Comics Lounge Comedy Club in Melbourne this week for his first stand-up set since the incident.
Arj admitted the furore had been 'intense' before he jokingly complained about an audience member disrupting him with his breathing in an amusing moment.
Arj Barker (pictured) has addressed the backlash around him ejecting a breastfeeding woman from his comedy show as he returned to the stage for the first time since the furore
'This whole thing has been a little intense,' he admitted, as he didn't shy away from addressing the elephant in the room.
The funnyman then pretended to kick random audience members out of his show as he singled out people in the crowds to jokingly complain about.
'I can hear someone's stomach rumbling. I just want you to know this is your last warning,' he said.
'About 12 seats back, there's a gentleman, mid-30s, when you inhale there's a slight whistling with your nose. Get the f**k out.'
Arj went on to admit he has been hit by 'hate' messages amid the online backlash, but also thanked his fans for their support.
The comedian, 49, poked fun at the online storm as he returned to stage at The Comics Lounge Comedy Club in Melbourne for his first stand-up set since the incident
'I've got to get home because I still have about 2,400 unread emails in my hate mailbox, though lots of supportive ones too,' he said. I'm grateful, I didn't come here to try and change anyone's mind.'
Arj, who is from San Francisco, also promised to continue touring around Australia as he gushed over how much he loves the country.
Earlier this week, Arj responded to the backlash over ejecting breastfeeding mother Trish Faranda from his Melbourne Comedy Festival show last weekend.
Ms Faranda claimed that she was humiliated and reduced to tears when she and her seven-month-old daughter Clara were booted from the theatre.
She claimed Clara 'had a bit of a whinge' before she gave her a feed, with Arj asking her to leave about 15 minutes into the gig because they were 'disrupting his show'.
Arj said baby Clara should not have been at his over-15s show in the first place, but also apologised to Ms Faranda for the embarrassment caused.
Arj (pictured in 2001) sparked controversy when he asked mother-of-three Trish Faranda and her baby Clara to leave his Melbourne Comedy Festival show for being disruptive
'I hope you're doing okay. I'm sorry that that was a difficult situation, and I would like to make peace,' he told Sunrise on Tuesday.
'I would like to meet up with her and have a serious discussion about selling the movie rights and go 50-50.
'Also, to the beautiful baby who I have nothing against, I want to offer that little child a ticket to my show post-dated 2039.'
'I'm not gonna hide because I want people to know the truth of what happened, at least from my perspective,' he went on. 'Both myself and the woman were put in a position we shouldn't have been in.'
Arj insisted he has no issue with public breastfeeding which he described as perfectly natural, and said he did not know that's what she was doing at the time.
'I couldn't see her well enough to know if she was breastfeeding or not - that's something I only heard about two days after the incident,' he continued.
Trish Faranda (pictured) claimed that she was humiliated and reduced to tears when she and her seven-month-old daughter Clara were booted from the theatre
'I want to make that really clear because it's been mentioned so much I had, and if she was, I wouldn't care.'
He also acknowledged that the baby was not screaming but that her 'cute' noises were distracting the audience.
'It's about the crowd enjoying an immersive experience of watching a comedy show with timing and pauses and getting drawn into the show,' he explained.
'As a performer, I have a right to ask a disruptive audience member to leave the show.
'Unfortunately, it was a cute little baby at this time and nothing to do with the mum or the gender of the parent. If it was a father, I would have said the exact same thing.
Arj (pictured in 2013) said baby Clara should not have been at his over-15s show in the first place, but also apologised to Ms Faranda for the embarrassment caused
'From where I'm standing on stage, I'm merely trying to create a nice environment to perform my show.'
Amid the controversy, Australian funnyman Ethan Marrell, better known as Ozzy Man Reviews, flocked to Arj's defence this week.
The YouTube star, 38, insisted Arj is a 'top bloke' with no 'ego' and gushed over how the star made him feel welcomed on the comedy circuit in the mid-2000s.
He recalled how Arj once spoke to himself and other nervous new comedians before one big show to make sure his material didn't overlap with theirs, and changed parts of his set so he didn't 'step on their shoes'.
According to news.com.au, Arj shared: '[Arj] was altering his material 30 minutes before the show and making sure he didn't step on the toes of the competing budding comics. Is that not bl**dy lovely?'
Amid the controversy, Australian funnyman Ethan Marrell (pictured), better known as Ozzy Man Reviews, flocked to Arj's defence this week, calling him a 'top bloke' with 'no ego'
'My core point is … the bloke does not have an ego, and I learnt from a very young age how f***en cool and nice that was,' he went on.
'He stepped out of his own way to make sure he wasn't taking all the glory as an MC on a night that was likely going to be memorable for lots of us newbies.
'It may not seem like much, but this was a pretty big national competition in the early 2000s, so I've always appreciated and remembered his integrity.'
Ethan also addressed the furore about the breastfeeding mother being kicked out, insisting Arj never should have had to address it on stage in the first place.
