Lisbon’s first big international comedy festival was supposed to be a celebration. Organizers spent two years landing Jerry Seinfeld as the inaugural headliner, billed as his first-ever performance in Portugal. Instead, at least six Portuguese performers have pulled out of the event, with several citing Seinfeld’s public support for Israel. Comedian Inês Aires Pereira and the duo Cebola Mol are among those who withdrew, and one performer said plainly that we cannot normalize a genocide.
The fallout has been messy. Organizers have reportedly considered legal action against the performers who backed out, and there were even discussions about scrapping the rest of the festival and proceeding with Seinfeld’s Nov. 1 show alone at the roughly 20,000-seat MEO Arena. The festival is still scheduled to run Oct. 29 through Nov. 1, but a comedy festival with one headliner and a lot of empty slots is a hard sell to ticket buyers.
The whole thing raises a question plenty of folks are chewing on right now: should an artist’s politics decide whether they get a stage, and should performers be pressured to share it with someone they disagree with? Comedy has long been the place where everybody gets a seat, and this story tests whether that’s still true.
What do you think? Would you still buy a ticket, or would you want your money back? Sound off in the comments.
About the Author
Ava Hart
Ava Hart is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.
