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Comedian Kate Smurthwaite has shared a selection of text messages exchanged with fellow female comics in a group chat discussing their ‘creepy’ male peers.
The 50-year-old comedian and activist appeared on Newsnight in the wake of the conviction of Russell Brand for rape and the publication of grooming allegations against David Walliams.
Speaking with Victoria Derbyshire in the BBC studio, Smurthwaite explained it is par for the course for her and fellow female comedians to ask one another about their experiences of working with certain stand-ups.
She shared a selection of messages from a WhatsApp group, with the names of the comedians they were discussing blurred out.
Among the messages, one comedian asked: ‘Has anyone gigged for — or — with any bad experiences?’ to which another member of the group replied: ‘Beyond rude shambolic and mainly audience-free.’
Another member of the group replied: ‘He’s creepy as f***’, which received two thumbs-up reactions on WhatsApp, while a second individual agreed, adding: ‘Sooooo creepy, avoid him if you can!!’
In one message Smurthwaite shared, a member of the group claimed a comedian has started booking gigs under another name.
To this, one woman replied: ‘Shared a car with him a couple months ago. Awful. Have warned promoters about him since but I have seen he still gets booked.’
Derbyshire went on to question that working environment, which Smurthwaite was keen to stress she did not believe was unique to the comedy industry.
She added: ‘I think that there are women in similar groups in banks, women in similar groups in call centres. I don’t think there’s a magic place where this doesn’t happen.
‘I do think comedy has its unique risks. It’s a freelance-heavy industry, so when work is offered to you it’s very hard to say no and there’s no easy place to ascertain who you’re going to be working with.’
She continued: ‘It happens late at night and people are often drunk, so there’s those risk factors. It’s also an industry where I go on stage and people whoop and they cheer and they scream and they laugh and there’s no denying that this is the kind of industry that would attract a narcissist.
‘If that’s what you want, don’t become a hedge-trimmer, get into comedy. There are definite, particular risks, but other industries would have their own risks.’
Scottish comedian Daniel Sloss, who spoke on the record during Channel 4’s explosive Dispatches investigation into Brand in 2023, then revealed that female comedians had established private networks to warn one another about men in the industry.
The fresh allegations against Walliams, which include abusing his power and fame to pursue women as young as 15, have prompted calls for better safeguarding.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said the claims were the ‘latest in a long line of reported abuses of power’ while comedian Lucy Beaumont – who spoke to reporters about Walliams’ behaviour – called for better industry safeguarding processes.