Is this a regular part of his act? I can't imagine how it's supposed to be funny.

Just how many crimes and forms of harassment can people possibly manage to excuse as a joke? Jesus.

It's possible that the young woman was an audience plant. Given the nature of the routine, it would make sense.

Not.fucking.funny.

I can't understand how this could even be construed as funny. Even the sickest, twisted, humored people I know would never think this to be anywhere near fucking funny.
Makes me sad - *sigh*

That said, I'm always disturbed by stories about people being accosted or outright assaulted in public in front of largely inactive spectators. What is it about being in that position that encourages people to do nothing as someone is abused before them?

Even if the women is a plant, it was obvious that she was playing the situation as awkward and something she was not entirely comfortable with, through her nervous giggling and the pulling down of her skirt.

Anyway, it was presented in a horrible way, he threatened violence to her, cursed at her, and demanded she lie still and therefore he could have all control and do whatever he wanted to her. None of that screams "fun times"

Disclaimer: not to bea put down to the BDSM community. This was obviously not portrayed as a mutual interaction

Wow. This gave me college flashbacks of feeling helpless to effectively protest while being coerced into sexual situations I really didn't want to be in.

Robos A Go Go: It's called the Bystander Effect and it is really very chilling to read about.

The Kitty Genovese case is the most obvious real life example and is horrible to hear about no matter how many times it's referenced in Psych/Soc classes.
In a nut shell, the more people there are witnessing something the more likely people are to wait for/assume someone else will say something.

Also, we live in a society where silence many times signals acceptance and until one voice is willing to speak up many people keep their mouth shut and live with their uncomfortableness.

I'm really surprised to have seen commenters on every feminist website I've been on defending Vegas and saying 'Maybe she's a plant?'

Would it be funny if she was acting? Sexual assault ISN'T FUNNY - ever!

Even if it was simulated, staged and she was a plant, I would still be disgusted.

Jesus Christ he should be in JAIL!

I dont get it. For the life of me, I cannot seem to derive any kind of comedy or joke surrounding this assualt.

I am serious, I am not trying to be coy. Where is the assumed joke? Looks like straight out assault to me.

Of course, if she is a plant, it's still a disgusting display. I thought that went without saying.

If it was a simulation, though, then at least we know it was consensual and no crime has actually been committed. Surely I'm not the only one who'd feels a little bit better knowing that.

What an asshole! I can't believe anyone would think that was 1) funny 2) appropriate behavior. I don't know what I would have done if I was in the audience. Fellow feminists: what should the audience have done?

Join me in the group who hopes sincerely she was a plant, for her sake.

I think that he should have been booed down. I can't believe he wasn't-- seriously, how is this funny?

So...not...cool!!

I am thoroughly aware of the bystander effect-I was a psych major in college, but seriously, what this guy did was NOT RIGHT and right now should be arrested on assault.

Why is it that everyday more and more "freaks" show up and do this kinds of stuff..yesterday the waxing father, today this...the world is at it's end...

To all of you a question: do you think that by our society being a lot more "open" about sex, sexuality and the sort, do you think this is the reasonings behind acts like these? Just curious...

"what should the audience have done?"

As a single person, leave, call the police, then demand your ticket money back.

At least, that's what I see myself doing.

Bethany, I don't know what the audience should have done. Someone could have yelled or said something. Although I don't know if I would have felt safe doing that, as a woman in the audience. I wouldn't want to attract his ridicule or defend myself if he turned his attention to me. If I was with a group who could stand up and say something collectively that would be a better scenario. I think more realistically someone (or multiple people) should have walked out or gone to get a bouncer, the show's host (who could cut the mic and get him off stage) or even ask a bartender for help or to immediately contact a manager. Even if some of these measures failed to stop the act in progress (it could take time to find a bouncer or host) it would at least be something and maybe an action that could mean pulling the girl aside to say "hey, do you want to call the police?" afterwards.

Of course, if she is a plant, it's still a disgusting display. I thought that went without saying.

If it was a simulation, though, then at least we know it was consensual and no crime has actually been committed. Surely I'm not the only one who'd feels a little bit better knowing that.

I think that's sort of the point. Telling oneself that she must have been a plant makes one feel better and that this was OK, which is the psychological reason people (not necessarily you) are now assuming it was.

Assuming that a woman was probably into or in on something, barring other information to the contrary, is part of why it's hard to get convictions for sexual harassment and assault.

I'm not trying to single you out; it's a defense mechanism everyone has a tendency to use (certainly I do). But while I hope you're right, I have to assume for the potential victim's sake that you aren't until more information comes in.

Jesus Christ he should be in JAIL!

I see what you mean now, ecpyrosis, and am pretty sure you're on the nose about the reason for my response.

I agree, he, Joe Francis, and that father who sent his daughter off to the bunny farm should be in jail.

I'm just... I used to think the man was funny. Unhinged, maybe, but funny in a completely absurd kind of way.

Not anymore. What a fucking pig.

I should probably clarify that I made that call without much to go on.

I experienced a performance that was not as bad as this, but still offensive for similar reasons. A student comedy group on my campus did a show in which they sang a song about a bunch of guys ejaculating on a specifically gal in the audience. Some of the audience started heckling a bit and booing, but the majority of the audience was laughing it up. I shouted, "That shit is not funny!" Another student actually interrupted the performance by sitting on the edge of the stage, explaining how he found the song offensive, and trying to get the audience to talk about what had just happened. Most of the audience just kept yelling at him and he eventually walked out of the performance. The next day everybody was talking (via Facebook, of course) about the event and how offended they were by the fact that the one student interrupted the show. They're all theatre majors and they have naive ideas about the sacredness of a performance. They also have uninformed ideas about how they think they can perform this type of material "with irony" because everyone knows we're so past misogyny as a culture. I actually had a lengthy conversation with some of the performers during which I tried to make them understand the problems inherent in their performance. Something I tried to point out was that the audience members had no way of knowing whether the girl was in on the joke, so I could only assume that she was being ambushed with public humiliation and what comes down to sexual harassment. I couldn't just sit back and be complicit in that. We, as individuals, need to act when we see things like this.

That woman's take on it is seriously missing from all this.

But anyways, it's just more crappy, idea-free stand-up comedy.

One word: eww.

What a depraved asshole. Had I been in the audience, I would have excused myself to go to the restroom and then called the police, and if she was just a plant, fine, but I would have alerted them just in case. There is NOTHING funny about this sort of behavior.

This actually made me cry. Its so sad that we live in a world where people dont feel like they can just stand up and protest something like this while it happens(even if she was a plant). People just dont know what to do.

This actually made me cry. Its so sad that we live in a world where people dont feel like they can just stand up and protest something like this while it happens(even if she was a plant). People just dont know what to do.

I am completely unnerved by this. I really hope that she was a plant. Even if she was a plant, just suggesting that he has the ability to molest anyone out of the audience that he chooses is disturbing.

Bruce Dessau of The Evening Standard had this to say about the performance:

"Vegas may not have had much in the way of a routine but he managed to finish in unforgettable style, having a front-row fan carried onstage like the dead Snow White and serenading her back to life like a safari-jacketed anti-Russell Brand. Not the best gig ever, but definitely unique."

Assaulting a "fan" (or someone who was in the wrong place at the wrong time) in front of a room full of people is unique! Points for Johnny!

Why is this allowable? I'm starting to think we're receding into a dark age where it's becoming culturally acceptable again to violate women. I'm starting to lose faith in humanity. What can we do to stop this?

Moggy3, when has it ever been culturally unacceptable?

I wish I knew what we could do to stop it. Enough people seem to think it's entertaining to watch a man sexually assault a woman, or pretend to sexually assault a woman (as some people are suggesting in an effort to comfort themselves).

WHAT THE FUCK?
I used to like Johnny Vegas at 8 out of 10 cats. Sometimes they did racist/sexist/etc. jokes, but in a sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek manner. Laughing more at the kind of narrow-minded people who said those things. In a Borat manner.
The Scottish kids were always my favourites anyway. Because their accents were hot.
But fucking hell, Johnny Vegas should be sent to jail. Or exiled from the world of comedy. Now he gives Brit-com a bad name.

I’ve grown sick and tired of all these “jokes.� A joke is supposed to make people laugh with excitement and happiness. But that doesn’t seem to be happening in today’s world. People laugh and make fun of one another, then say it’s a joke. What kind of people are we? Are we just as ignorant as racists bastards? Have we no shame?

Just the other day a fellow classmate walked up to me and asks “do you want to hear a joke?� He pauses then says “women’s rights.� What the hell are people thinking?! For years, people have been fighting for equality and I’m beginning to think we’re NEVER going to truly have it. No fight is ever really over.
I just hope college will have mature people (but not like those at Yale University).

Oh my life! I didn't hear about this but I'm going to see if I can find anymore information about it. I knew that Vegas could be crude, at times, but I didn't know that he would go this far. Could she prosecute?

whether she was a 'plant' or not is irrelevant -- in the best of situations i would say she was a 'plant' and knew exacly what was going to happen -- and faked all the nervous and awkward behaviour.

However --- even in this scenario -- the message being sent is that sexual assault is hilarious and condoned in public spaces.

The issue of whether she was a "plant" or not may not be relevant to how revolting and disturbing the display was, but the fact that it's in question does point out why the audience might have remained inert. The bystander effect is bad enough, but when everyone's sitting there trying to figure out whether it's staged or not, they're probably going to look at the non-reaction of others and tend towards the most "benign" interpretation possible.

Could you possibly put a trigger warning on this? I think it's important for people to be able to read about this and discuss it critically, but I also think that some of the details in the post might be triggering for some survivors of sexual assault.

What a pig. Why wasn't he arrested?

like cyn and DeNatured, i used to think johnny vegas was funny, and i was completely astonished to read about this. it's absolutely apalling.

And people wonder how Holocausts, and genocides and other vile human atrocitys happen? Its because of mass compliance and avoidance of stepping up and saying these kinds of things are wrong when theyre happening simply to go along with 'the crowd.' I think this is abhorrent, and whats even more confusing is her reaction in the face of such disrespect, and mistreatment.

"Fellow feminists: what should the audience have done?"

Bethany,
I asked myself the same question. My instinct would be to initially start by yelling "BOOOO" and go from there. However, the problem with that, is due to the overwhelming compliance of the audience they may simply escort you out, rather than have multiple people from the audience join in. It would be worth it though, because if its not a plant its illegal, if it is, it has just disrupted the whole "joke" and made it serious so that it stops the successful erosion of any public acceptance of this type of display. However, I would rather come up with something more ingenius, disruptive and/or clever than 'BOOO,' but its better than, 'display stupid smile, clap, collective laugh...compliance.' I'd yell BOOO rather than do nothing.

If people would make more of a racket he wouldnt feel he could do this (if it was a plant), and publicity wide it would only derail and ruin him. If its real.....call the cops, this is fucking sick.

Sad. It reminds me of the rape case on the L train in Chicago back in the 90's, during the day, on a crowded platform, people coming and going while a woman, held at knife point, was raped. Obviously the "comic"s act was not as heinous, but, still, a public assault, witnessed by many who didn't know what to do (the right thing).
We all hope we'll respond better in a similar situation. We hope we can prevent public and private molestations, rapes, assaults and other types of violations.
We hope we'll stand up for ourselves and each other. Too often, we end up with an experience to survive.

I hope she deals with what happened to her in the healthiest way for her.

I'm inspired to take a refresher self defense course- it's been awhile.

This is absolutely horrifying. Remember those vile seventh-grade boys who thought it was OK to feel you up in the hallways? And how everyone expected you to laugh if off?

Remember Gary Busey grabbing Jennifer Garner? That fashion commenter guy feeling up Scarlett Johanssen?

I wonder why we're so afraid to speak up and fight back. Yell at these douchebags to stop.

Ah, but then I remember...society as a whole doesn't support us, or even take seriously what's happened to us. Half the time women don't bother helping out other women. I think that one bothers me more than anything else.

Of course, that's not necessarily the point. We shouldn't HAVE to have each other's backs to begin with, because this kind of behavior shouldn't be tolerated to begin with. It's not okay, EVER, to treat another human being in such a disrespectful, dehumanizing way.

THAT is why this news upsets me so much. Death to Johnny Vegas! Let's go castrate the fucker. And cut off his hands, while we're at it.

"Death to Johnny Vegas! Let's go castrate the fucker. And cut off his hands, while we're at it."

I second that!

Hey, this totally disgusted me when I read it.

I think we should make it plain that this sort of thing is not to be tolerated!

To complain to Johnny Vegas email him at: Johnnyvegasmail@aol.com

To contact PG Tips (Vegas is the frontman for their T.V. adverts in the UK) to complain about having a sexist abuser as their frontman: http://www.pgtips.co.uk/contact/details.aspx

To register complaint to the Bloomsbury theatre (where it happened): http://www.thebloomsbury.com/contact

To complain to the police and have the incident looked into, contact project sapphire (which focuses on rape and sexual assault): Project Sapphire
Territorial Policing Headquarters
Victoria Embankment
London
SW1A 2JL
Tel: 0207 321 7104
Fax: 020 7321 9004

I should add that the Bloomsbury Theatre is part of University College London. Please consider contacting our provost:

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/provost/contact