Is it appropriate to mock a child with a disability?
Most people know: of course not.
But if the other party is a well-known child star and you are a comedian, the situation seems to be different...
Recently, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that comedians have the right to laugh at disabled child stars, even if those jokes are really vicious.
(Supreme Court of Canada)
The ridiculed is Canadian singer Jeremy Gabriel, who was born in 1996 and grew up with Tretch collins syndrome.
This is a rare genetic disorder that causes congenital hypoplasia of the cheek and jawbones, with deformities in the head, ears, and palate.
(Jeremy and his mother)
At a very young age, Jeremy was deaf and mute, even if he could not hear or speak, coupled with his strange appearance, he was often treated with strange eyes.
By the age of 6, doctors had put a bone-anchored hearing aid on Jeremy, who could hear 90 percent of his voices in an instant, could speak, and gradually learned to sing.
From then on, the world suddenly opened up to him.
In 2005, 8-year-old Jeremy was discovered for her singing talent.
The Montreal Canadiens, who played hockey, invited him to sing the national anthem at the game, and after the song was completed, Jeremy Jr. became famous in Canada.
A few years later, Jeremy went to the Vatican to sing for Pope Benedict XVI, and in Las Vegas, the famous singer Celine Dion also invited him to sing along.
Jeremy, who once couldn't speak, became a child star and he released an album.
His fame is particularly high in his hometown of Quebec, and people will say when they mention him, oh, is it the little singer who was born disabled? He's pretty good.
But such fame also attracted people he feared,
His "childhood spoiler," comedian Mike Ward.
(Mike Ward)
Ward is a Quebec stand-up comedian known for his black comedies, and his jokes are always unbridled, pungent and popular with locals.
In 2010, during a 90-minute stand-up comedy show, Ward began talking about the "holy cow" among Quebec stars. The so-called "holy cow" is those celebrities who are too famous, too well-known, or too powerful to be considered to be ridiculed.
Ward first told a story about one of Quebec's celebrities, Celine Dion, and her late husband, and then joked with talk show host Guy Lepage.
Then he spoke of Jeremy.
"Little Jeremy, a kid with a subwoofer on his head." Ward mocked his hearing aid in French, "Don't say he's not good at singing, how can you say that?" He's going to die, and he should be allowed to live in a dream! ”
The audience laughed.
"But jeremy jr. hasn't died all these years, and that's how I know he's not terminally ill." Ahhh, what should I do about this? I thought of a solution: I had to drown him. ”
Ward talks about how he tried to drown Jeremy, only to find himself unable to kill him. He said he went online to find out what kind of illness Jeremy had, and when he looked at the photos—
"Oh my God, he's so ugly!!"
The audience burst into laughter, and Ward jokingly rebuked them: "I don't know how far this joke can be told." I've been telling myself before that you're going too far and they won't laugh. But you can't stop laughing. ”
Because of his comedic performance, Ward told the joke more than 200 times in Quebec, from 2010 to 2013.
The show was also featured in his stand-up comedy selection, which was sold online.
Jeremy in 2010 was only 13 years old.
At that time, Jeremy had just entered junior high school, and he saw Ward telling his jokes, and the classmates around him also saw it.
Before, he was often bullied, and after Ward's joke came out, the bullying became even worse. Almost every day, he could hear his classmates repeat Ward's passages at school, saying that he was ugly and that he should die.
Bullied so much, Jeremy quit all social activities and began to think seriously about suicide.
"When you're 13 and a 40-year-old man says you don't deserve to live, you'll feel like he's right." Jeremy, 24, said in an interview.
Because of the love of her family, Jeremy did not commit suicide, but it is still very painful.
However, the whole family did not contact Ward, fearing that it would be seen as a fuss, and comedy is a taunting art.
It wasn't until 2012 that they saw Ward talk about the joke on a popular news show, and he admitted he had gone too far.
"I'm like a cocaine addict who always has to make some excessive jokes to feel too much."
It turned out that Ward himself felt excessive, not that they thought too much!
Jeremy's family couldn't stand it anymore and complained to the Quebec Commission on Human and Youth Rights, demanding that Ward stop the joke and apologize.
The case was brought before the Quebec Human Rights Court, which in 2016 found Ward's remarks to be discriminatory and demanded that he compensate Jeremy for $28,000 and his mother $5,600.
Ward was not satisfied and immediately appealed, and in 2019, the Quebec Court of Appeal upheld the verdict, arguing that Ward's performance was inappropriate.
"Artists must realize that the freedom of art is not absolute, and they, like any other citizen, are responsible for the consequences of their own speech." The verdict reads.
At this point, Ward was even angrier, not only at him, but also at the big guys in the entire Canadian comedy circle.
They believe that Jeremy is a public figure, and since he is a public figure, he can be ridiculed at will. It has nothing to do with whether he is disabled or not, whether he is a child or not.
"Comedy is not a crime!" Ward said in the statement, "What jokes to tell on stage is not up to the judge to decide." The laughter of the audience has answered everything! ”
Ward refused to pay damages and filed a lawsuit with the Supreme Court of Canada.
Norm Macdonald, a famous Canadian comedian, supported him on Twitter, calling Ward a genius who dared to offend before he was fined.
Ward was also supported by the world-renowned Montreal Comedy Festival, where they put on a show to help Ward raise legal fees to "defend the future of The Canadian comedy world."
Even, even the disabled comedian does not help the little, ridiculed Jeremy.
Comedian Michael Lifshitz was born with multiple musculoskeletal malformations, which he often uses as a stand-up comedy meme.
After Jeremy and Ward's case went on the news, Lev hitched sarcastically: "If so, then I should sue myself too." I have to admit that many of my jokes are politically incorrect. ”
He believes that this case will not promote the protection of the disabled, but will suppress creation.
"It would be a dangerous precedent for comedians to say that should have been left to public opinion."
The whole comedy world is very united in its opposition to Jeremy, but for this boy he doesn't think so much and just wants to preserve his dignity.
Jeremy doesn't think that being a public figure means giving up his dignity as a human being, and he feels Ward's rhetoric is overstepping the bounds.
"I can't stop having any rights just because I'm a public figure. I firmly believe that this red line has been crossed. I also firmly believe that freedom of expression is not freedom from consequences. ”
This legal battle was fought at the Supreme Court of Canada.
On Friday, the Supreme Court reached a final verdict with a surprising result:
Ward won, and the court, by a vote of 5 to 4, ruled that his remarks did not involve discrimination.
In its ruling, the Supreme Court said Ward's remarks, while "offensive," were he not targeted for Jeremy's disability, but because he was famous.
Under Quebec law, defendants must be based on "race, color, sex、...... Disability to discriminate between others", this is discrimination.
Being targeted for "being famous" is not prohibited by law.
At the same time, the court did not believe that Ward's remarks would incite others to discriminate against Jeremy, because rational people would not do so.
As for Jeremy's bullying at school, they don't think it has anything to do with Ward.
After 10 years of legal battles, Jeremy felt bitter about this result, but had to obey.
"I don't regret what I've done over the years, but I accept the verdict." Jeremy said at a news conference, "I spent too much time and energy, and the good news is that I can finally move on to life now." ”
"Everyone is equal, and I still believe in that."
After receiving the verdict, Ward was so excited that he announced good news on his YouTube channel, saying that there was still hope for the future of the Canadian comedy industry.
He also retweeted a tweet from comedy mogul Noam Macdonald, writing: "We did it, Noam, we won." ”
Ward's human rights lawyer, Julius Grey, was also pleased:
"We must limit the inflated rights of the human rights tribunals, otherwise, anything can be seen as discrimination."
But the Supreme Court's minority judges argued that the decision was inappropriate and reflected Canada's inadequate protection of vulnerable groups.
The four judges, who lost by one vote, said they believed Ward's remarks discriminated against people with disabilities.
"This verdict ignores the most basic fact in this case: Mr. Ward has been attacking Mr. Gabriel's public image when he attacks his disabled status. Thus, compared to other public figures whom Mr. Ward derided as the 'Holy Cow', Mr. Gabriel is distinctly different. ”
"We do not tolerate insults to children with disabilities, nor do we tolerate wrapping this discriminatory behavior in the cloak of freedom of expression. We are even more intolerant of the deliberate emotional harm caused by such statements to children with disabilities. ”
Although the defeated judge was so dissatisfied, the final verdict was still Ward's win.
As Ward and his comedy friends celebrate with champagne, Jeremy's mom uploads a video calling on everyone to think about which jokes are funny and what are discriminatory and harmful.
Jeremy also said he fears other children will be mocked by comedians in the future.
"I wanted to ask Ward how he would have felt if he had chosen to end his life. Will he still talk about free speech? How exactly we should treat children, I am really a little worried about the future. ”
The concepts of free speech and the dignity of others, the two concepts, do often fight.
Good people will pay more attention to the latter and do not want others to be hurt,
But there are also many people who choose to pay attention to the former and only care about their own coolness.
For the vulnerable, a better world should be composed of people who care about the feelings of others, or do you want more people to be like this...