Watch: ‘Thanks For Showing Us Cancel Culture Doesn’t Work’ – Bajd U Bejken’s Max Tells Haters, Announcing ‘Short Break’ While Apologising To Terry And More
The final part of the long controversy between divisive dark comedy podcast Bajd U Bejken and prominent transgender activist Terry Muscat has arrived, in the form of an eight-minute video statement by the show’s remaining co-host, Max.
“We apologise for being late with this statement, but from experience, we’ve learnt that among the furore and hassle, it’s better to shut up and only speak out when things calm down,” Max started.
“Bajd U Bejken is not homophobic, or transphobic, or phobic towards anyone or anything, we never based ourselves on any sort of hate towards anyone,” the podcast host continued. “Just live your life, and if you’re happy, everyone else is. And the joke we made about Terry was not an exhibition of hate towards her or her sexuality. Yes, it was vulgar, obscene… just what you’d expect from a Bajd U Bejken joke.”
Clarifying that the live show never modified a photo of Terry or ridiculed her by herself, Max went on to say they already spoke to the personality, apologising for hurting her and assuring her and their audience that it was never their intention. “But we believe in comedic equality,” Max stressed. “A transgender person should not be subjected to less or more satire, and just because they belong to a minority doesn’t mean they have a shield which protects you from every joke that could ever be made about you. Because no, you’re not different. You’re not better, or worse, than me. If we want equality, we have to be equal with each other’s treatment, be it positive or negative.”
“A small message to all these holier-than-thou influencers who came out swinging their swords to behead us when they smelled blood, the ones who labelled us homophobic and transphobic, who said ‘enough is enough, it’s about time we cancelled Bajd U Bejken’,” Max turned his attention. “Thank you, thanks for showing us that cancel culture, even when pushed by influencers, journalists and MPs, unless there’s real hate, doesn’t work.”
“You tried to cancel us, but the majority decides, not you,” he continued. “And the majority knows we are not people who really hate, because nearly 20% of our guests have been LGBTIQ, and we have a great deal of love and respect towards them. We joked about everything and they never got offended.”
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Mentioning Terry again and saying he admired how brave she’s had to be throughout her life, Max called for people to stop offending her personally… before addressing the elephant in the room, the empty chair on his left.
“It wasn’t a joke, JD really did leave,” Max said. “And after all the external pressure he got, we completely agreed with his decision. The show won’t be the same without him. We love you JD, and filling your shoes will be difficult, which is why we’re going to take a short break to evaluate the situation.”
“But one thing’s for sure: JD was the most cautious one of us all,” Max warned. “He was the one who was the voice of reason of this show. We’ll see what will happen without him. But one thing’s for sure: we’re staying here.”
Just to end things on a typically satirical note while still making sure the apology was heard, Max closed off by apologising to everyone the show had joked about during its recent live shows… going on for over a minute and mentioning everyone from former prime ministers Mintoff and Fenech Adami to Bob Marley and Max’s own wife.
What do you make of this statement?
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