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Arj Barker: Comedian hits back after he kicked out a breastfeeding woman from his Melbourne Comedy Festival show
Comedian Arj Barker has made a peace offering to the breastfeeding mum he asked to leave his show for being disruptive - but stands by his decision.
The American stand-up performer sparked a backlash when he ejected mother-of-three Trish Faranda from his Melbourne Comedy Festival show on Saturday night.
Ms Faranda claimed that she was humiliated and reduced to tears when she and seven-month-old daughter Clara were booted from the theatre.
She said Clara was babbling and 'had a bit of a whinge' before Ms Faranda gave her a feed.
Barker then ordered Ms Faranda leave about 15 minutes into the gig because they were 'disrupting his show'.
Barker said on Tuesday that baby Clara should not have been at his over-15s show in the first place.
Melbourne mother-of-three Trish Faranda and baby Clara were asked to leave his show by comedian Arj Barker on Saturday night
But he also apologised to Ms Faranda for the embarrassment caused and made a light-hearted attempt to make amends.
'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.'
Barker admitted it was an unfortunate and tricky situation for everyone involved.
'I'm not gonna hide because I want people to know the truth of what happened, at least from my perspective,' he said.
'Both myself and the woman were put in a position we shouldn't have been in.'
Barker insists he has no issue with public breastfeeding which he described as perfectly natural, and at the time he did not know that's what she was doing.
Arj Barker (pictured speaking to Sunrise on Tuesday) has doubled down on his decision but admitted it was an unfortunate situation for all involved
The comedian has issued a public apology to Trish Faranda along with a refund
READ MORE: Backlash as top comedian kicks breastfeeding mum and her baby out of comedy show in Melbourne
A festival attendee claimed Arj Barker (above) 'badgered' the breastfeeding woman on a night out with her sist
'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.
'I want to make that really clear because it's been mentioned so much I had, and if she was, I wouldn't care.'
Barker acknowledged that the baby was not screaming but said 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,' Barker 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.
'From where I'm standing on stage, I'm merely trying to create a nice environment to perform my show.'
Arj Barker said that baby Clara shouldn't have been allowed in the over-15s show
After Clara began crying during an interview, The Project panelist Sarah Harris (pictured) asked for her to be handed to her dad
The saga has sparked a fiery debate over who was in the wrong.
'The staff didn't seem to mind. But this was handled very poorly and I say unprofessionally,' one audience member said.
Others leapt to Barker's defence.
'It's rather mad, selfish for the mother, and disregard for the child welfare to take a baby to somewhere that could make the infant restricted,' one tweeted.
Another added: 'Don't know what Arj Barker actually said nor how he said it, but imagine being so selfish to choose to take a baby to a comic or any theatre show and not leave if it starts crying. Watch the fake signallers get hold of this one.'
Barker was asked by Sunrise hosts Matt Shirvington and Natalie Barr if he could have handled the situation differently.
'There was a few people yelling out at the time. It was unclear to me if they were yelling at me or her,' he recalled.
'It was a very chaotic few minutes.
'At that time, I was merely focused on ... I was concerned about her being upset.
'And I was saying, "Look, you know, I'm really sorry".
'I offered her a refund, which, you know, which is maybe not a big deal, but it was sincere.'
Barker performed his new show Mind Field at Melbourne's Athenaeum Theatre from March 28 to April 21
Ms Faranda later disputed Barker's claims that he 'gently' asked her to leave.
'Had Arj asked me to leave politely, as he's saying he did, I would have gone,' she told Sunrise afterwards.
'I would have been mortified that we interrupted his flow and his show and I would have never spoken about it.
'But I don't feel that that's what happened.
'I feel like he used his position on that stage and his microphone to really intimidate me.'