A French stand-up comedian came under harsh criticism and legal woes after a controversial stunt went sour at a recent show. Dieudonné M’bala M’bala was fined € 20,000 (US$ 30,000) for inviting convicted holocaust denier Robert Faurisson on stage and honoring him with a “satirical award from an actor dressed as a Jewish deportee.” Dieudonne’ was ordered to pay € 10,000 for his “public anti-Semitic insults” and a further € 10,000 in damages and legal fees to organizations that sued him.
Would Dieudonne’ have faced the same backlash in the United States for a stunt like this? Perhaps, and yet if he had a puppet of a holocaust denier receive the award from a puppet of a Jewish deportee, he could possibly get a lucrative deal from Comedy Central.
