David Walliams has revealed Australian comedy icon Barry Humphries was ‘incredibly hurt’ by the backlash he received over his alleged anti-trans comments.
Barry, who died from complications from hip surgery in 2023, faced backlash from the Melbourne International Comedy Festival after making comments that were seen to be ‘anti-trans.’
In 2018, Humphries compared gender reassignment surgery to ‘self-mutilation’
But speaking to the Herald Sun this week, UK comedian Walliams, 53, defended Barry’s opinions as simply being a product of his time.
‘Why expect a man in his 80s to have the same opinions as people 50 years younger than him?’ asked David.
The Little Britain star added that the idea that someone should be ‘cancelled’ because of their views was ‘dangerous.’
‘You should be able to hold an opinion, and you should not be cancelled for your opinion,’ he said.
Walliams said the fallout led to Humphries feeling unwelcome in the Victorian capital.
UK comedian David Walliams has revealed that Australian comedy icon Barry Humphries was ‘incredibly hurt’ by the backlash he received over anti-trans comments
‘To not feel welcome when you’re a global star for 50 years plus, and so much of your material is about being Australian.’
‘I knew that Melbourne meant so much to him’ David added.
Barry, who was perhaps best known for his iconic dame Edna Everage character, helped launch the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 1987 and had an award named after him at one stage before he fell out with organisers in 2019 over ‘anti-trans’ comments.
His name was removed from the ‘Barry Award’ for the Most Outstanding Show in 2019 following his comments made a year earlier about transgender people, including that it was a ‘fashion’ fad and that gender reassignment surgery was ‘self-mutilation’.
‘He was incredibly hurt,’ David told the Herald Sun. ‘But why expect a man in his 80s to have the same opinions as people 50 years younger than him? Why expect that?’
Comedian Hannah Gadsby, who won the Barry Award in 2017 for her show ‘Nanette’ and fellow comedian Zoë Coombs Marr, who won the Barry the previous year both called for the award to be renamed.
Gadsby tweeted that Humphries was an ‘irrelevant… d*** biscuit’ and ‘loves those who hold power, hates vulnerable minorities and has completely lost the ability to read the room’.
Festival director Susan Provan said in 2019 the comments were ‘appalling’ and she wanted the award to ‘to celebrate the breadth of the artists that participate in the festival’.
The Barry Award is now called The Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award.
Barry, who was perhaps best known for his iconic dame Edna Everage character, helped launch the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 1987 and had an award named after him at one stage before he fell out with organisers in 2019 over ‘anti-trans’ comments
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