She said comedians had tried to set up a union on several occasions to protect themselves
Sara Pascoe has said there is ‘more than one’ sexual predator in the comedy industry, including a “man that’s assaulted men.”
In an interview with the Independent, Pascoe said a group of female and male comedians had tried “setting up a union” three times in the past to protect themselves from predators.
She told the publication: “We kept thinking that’s the problem – if we had a good enough union, there’d be a place where you could go and say: ‘There’s this person getting women drunk at festivals and taking advantage of them.’”
Pasco explained that due to laws around libel, it’s hard to accuse someone of sexual assault without clear proof, adding that you “can’t just tweet about it.”
She said that fame also “complicates it” particularly if the person you’re accusing is more successful or famous.
Pascoe said: “If you do the same job as someone, and they’re successful and you’re not – which is what’s happened with this particular predator – and you have this horrible thing happen to you at the beginning of your career, and you want to continue in that career, then your literal choice is: am I known for ever as the person that person assaulted? Do I want everyone in comedy to know this about me? All you can do is offer better support as an industry.”
She went on to say that there was more than one predator she could think of, including a “man that’s assaulted men.”
This isn’t the first time that the stand-up comic has spoken about an unnamed alleged sexual predator in the comedy industry.
Last year, she appeared on an episode of Katherine Ryan’s Amazon Prime show ‘Backstage with Katherine Ryan’, in which the pair spoke about an unnamed comedian who they both “believe is a predator.”
Ryan told Pascoe: “I’ve done a show with someone who you and I believe is a predator.”
The Canadian comic said she was unsure if it was okay to worked with the person in question but said it was “such a messy thing because I don’t have proof – what, am I not supposed to feed my children because of someone else?”
Pasco responded: “Also in that instance that you’re referencing it was about raising it,” to which Katherine replied: “I raised it. I called him a predator to his face and in front of everyone every day.”
Ryan later repeated the claims in an interview with Louis Theroux. Again, she did not name the person in question and said it was a “very dangerous for us to have this conversation”, labelling it a “litigious minefield.”
Neither Pascoe or Ryan said they themselves had been victims of sexual assault
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