Chrissie Mayr is an American stand-up comedian and internet entertainer from the right who has landed herself in some hot water for jokes poking fun at trans and LGBT+people, Blacks, and even Malaysians.
This is how she defended her anti-trans jokes:
Slamming the response and subsequent backlash as un-American – and the current push for transgender activism as ‘propaganda’ – Mayr touted comedy clubs’ status as a place where controversial opinions should be said without fear, especially given the context of the First Amendment.
‘Stand-up is one of the very few places where you can like just,’ the comic attempts to explain before losing her train of thought.
She goes on to insist: ‘It’s the rawest form of entertainment, but also human interaction.
‘You should be laughing at things at a comedy club that might get you in trouble at work. You should be making side comments to your buddies at a comedy club that could get you in trouble at work.
‘It’s one of the last few places of freedom where you can be yourself and let loose.’
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‘True equality is being able to joke about everybody,’ she sensationally declared, as she continues to face criticism on social media for the much-seen clip, which she herself shared and has since garnered more than 3million views.
‘Again, there’s nothing wrong, there’s nothing to update here,’ she added of what her next course of action will be amid this backlash.
‘All human beings should be constantly learning, growing, trying to see somebody else’s opinion.’
I agree with some of these comments and in general support freedom of speech as long as one is not inciting hate or violence against others. The question for me, though, is is Mayr being genuine or is she being disingenuous?
There is some talk she has been believing and spreading QAnon conspiracy theories, which is usually less than a hop, skip and jump away from full-blown antisemitism. And sure enough, there are some really troubling signs from her that she might just be a Jew-hater; like her repeatedly interviewing infamous Jew-hater Owen Benjamin and White supremacist Paul Ray Ramsey; and this tweet seemingly bemoaning the fight against antisemitism:
And it gets worse. Way worse.
Remember how Mayr claimed stand-up is one of the very few places where you can let loose and say things that might get you into trouble elsewhere? It seems she was being disingenuous about that, because she seems to have made a habit of making antisemitic comments outside of the comedy club.
Mary is a regular guest on a YouTube channel called Nerdrotic, which focuses on nerd culture. Each episode is a four-hour-long discussion of the latest Hollywood movies and TV shows. Yet despite the fact this should be a fun, apolitical and whimsical discussion, Mayr keeps bringing the Jews into it, seemingly relishing the idea of seeing more dead Jews on screen, as well as making the same kind of “cheap Jew” joke that recent got baseball hall of famer Johnny Bench into trouble.
And as was the case with Bench, the laughter following her “jokes” (and in these instances, playing along with her) is at least just as disturbing as her vile antisemitism.
So yes, I support freedom of speech, but I would argue here that Mayr applauding the idea of dead Jews crosses the line.
The question now is: will the media make as big a deal about this as her other racist and bigoted jokes?
