Entertainment reporter Peter Ford under fire for 5-year-old tweet

• Peter Ford Slams Reviews
• He criticized a post targeting Barry Humphreys

A prominent Australian entertainment journalist has revealed he was subjected to a tirade of abuse for bringing up a five-year-old tweet shortly after a comedian’s death Barry Humphreys.

Peter Ford, who has worked in Australian media for 30 years, said he endured angry comments and messages after retweeting a tweet from the comedian in 2018 Hannah Gadsby In it she criticized Humphreys.

Humphreys, one of America’s most acclaimed entertainers and comedians, died last week at the age of 89 from complications from hip surgery.

On the day Humphries died, Ford reposted Gadsby’s 2018 tweet in which she said the comedy legend hated “vulnerable people.”

Ford told Daily Mail Australia he was surprised by the influx of comments from angry Twitter users who rushed to Gadsby’s defense and bombarded him with negative comments.

“That’s not comedians, that’s irrelevant, inhuman shit biscuits at the highest level,” Gadsby said of Humphreys at the time.

Ford said that while Gadsby “has the right” to stand her ground, “comedy is subjective.”

‘Hannah is entitled to her opinion. My point, however, is that I understand that Hannah thinks she’s funny, but Barry is actually funny. I hope she is proud of the charges she made against the then 84-year-old,” he wrote.

Ford’s post was flooded with angry responses, with many calling his tweets and remarks referring to Gadsby’s 2018 “disgusting” and “disgusting.”

One commenter called Ford a “pathetic attention-seeking coffin chaser.”

“Past your expiration date,” read another.

“What you did is absolutely disgusting,” said another.

“But I shouldn’t expect anything from ‘entertainment reporter.’ Totally worthless job.”

Ford said he believed his post contained “very little provocation.”

“I really don’t know why they are so angry,” he said.

Ford said he had “covered tirelessly” on the comedian’s legacy since his passing, but when he posted Gadsby’s comments, he said it sparked a debate. A “strange mania”.

Ford said he also received nasty messages via direct messages on Twitter and blocked “about 300” accounts.

However, he said the ordeal didn’t bother him — “if you say it on Twitter, you have to accept it too”.

Ford said Humphreys had been hurt by the MICF’s decision in 2019 to rename their top prize, the Barry Award, as the MICF Awards.

“It was like a blow to Barry,” he said.

“He died thinking he was rejected by his hometown.”

Earlier this week, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival said it would consider a tribute to Barry Humphreys but was unlikely to reinstate the prestigious award in Humphreys’ honor.

The award’s renaming comes after protests over Humphreys’ anti-trans comments.

Gadsby was one of the most popular comedians of the day and led the fight to have Humphreys’ name removed from the festival, Ford said.

“It’s not Hannah’s fault, but she was very outspoken at the time,” he said.

Ford said that while he personally didn’t like some of Humphreys’ more controversial comments, he also disagreed with the comedy festival’s decision.

“Barry is not the face of the comedy festival,” he said.

“They could have made a statement instead of punishing him, which is a game arts organizations shouldn’t be playing.”

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