Comic dropped from tour for anti-Semitic rant

MONTREAL — Irish comedian Tommy Tiernan’s ironic anti-Semitic tirade last month has cost him a spot on the Just for Laughs (JFL) cross-Canada comedy tour that starts later this month.

JFL issued a statement last week that, “In light of recent events, JFL and Tommy Tiernan have decided collectively that Tiernan will no longer perform” on the tour, which is set to open Oct. 19 in St. John’s, Nfld., stop in 20 cities and wind up Nov. 15 in Kelowna, B.C. Tiernan was to join the tour on Oct. 28 in Hamilton, Ont. His appearance had been announced in August.

“After speaking with him over the last week, we agreed that it was in the best interest of everyone involved that he withdraws from the 2009 tour,” the statement reads.

The decision to drop Tiernan was made even though he insists his remarks have been repeated out of context and that he didn’t intend to cause offence.

On Sept. 5 at the Electric Picnic Art and Music Festival in County Laois, Ireland, Tiernan is on record as saying, “F—ing Christ-killing bastards. F—ing six million? I would have got 10 or 12 million out of that. No f—ing problem. Two at a time they would have gone. Hold hands, get in there, leave us your teeth and your glasses.”

JFL public relations manager Meredith Sharpe said that Tiernan has told JFL that he “regrets” the comments “attracted so much controversy.

“According to Tiernan, he was parodying extremism and believes his remarks were taken out of context. He is very sorry for any hurt caused by this misinterpretation.”

Nevertheless, his show will not go on in Canada.

Tiernan, who has a frenetic, inconoclastic style, has been popular at the annual JFL festival in Montreal in recent years and had a sold-out one-man show last July. The 40-year-old comic has been known to make edgy jokes about religion, including Catholicism, and other sensitive subjects, but has never has been in hot water like this.

Dublin’s Sunday Tribune newspaper reported that Tiernan made the remarks during an on-stage interview that touched on the boundaries of comedy. It later came to light that the question that prompted his rant, however, came from an audience member and concerned an actual criticism of his routine by a Jewish couple after a show in New York.

The incident provoked an uproar in Ireland that continues to dog Tiernan. The Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, condemned his outburst, accusing Tiernan of trivializing the Holocaust, as did Irish Jewish parliamentarian Alan Shatter. The Holocaust Educational Trust of Ireland said it was “appalled” by Tiernan’s “racist comments,” while the Israeli ambassador to Ireland demanded an unequivocal apology.

The Jewish Representative Council of Ireland expressed disappointment that Tiernan has tried to justify what he said, rather than repudiate the comments.

The council said it was “deeply saddened and distressed” by the comments, calling them “totally unacceptable, insensitive and deeply hurtful.” Spokesperson Carl Nelkin added: “Clearly, there are boundaries you cannot cross, even in such a context.”

Tiernan posted a statement on his website that his words have been “taken so far out of context that I am quite bewildered,” but he admits that they now sound “callous, cruel and ignorant.” He said he is “greatly upset by the thought that these comments have caused hurt to others, as this was never my intention… The things that I said in front of a live audience were an attempt to explain my belief that one of the duties of the comic performer is to be reckless and irresponsible and that the things that they say should NEVER be taken out of context.”

He noted that his remarks were prefaced by saying that they shouldn’t be taken seriously.