Jump to content

Canadian fined $35,000 for hurting feelings *Update, Jokes won.

JZStudios

*Update, after years of court dates and multiple trials/courts, the Canadian Supreme Court has ruled in favor of Mike Ward, the comedian with a 5-4 vote and charges are dropped.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/mike-ward-scc-jérémy-gabriel-1.6229032

 

It's here, ladies and gentlemen, freedom of speech and expression officially gone in Canada. A Canadian comedian has been taken to court and fined a rather large sum over a joke.

Quote

Canadian comedian Mike Ward has lost his appeal and has been ordered by a Quebec judge to pay $35,000 because of a joke he told about a disabled boy.

Ward was ordered to pay $35,000 to Jeremy Gabriel, who suffers from a genetic disorder that causes facial deformity and affects his hearing, due to a joke the comedian told at shows between 2010 and 2013.

This leads to a monumental moment of absolutely insane stupidity and hypocrisy of the "freedom" of Canadians;

Quote

Two of three judges ruled Mike Ward’s comments regarding Gabriel were not justifiable in a society where freedom of expression is valued.

Which is just... fantastic. MWAH. Beautiful.

 

Originally he was also supposed to pay $7,000 to the mother of the "victim," which the courts denied, since she wasn't directly influenced or mentioned by the joke. At the very least if you make a joke the audiences family members aren't entitled to emotional compensation.

 

Quote

The joke in question was regarding Gabriel’s disability. In 2005, Gabriel sang to Pope Benedict and Celine Dion to flesh out his dream of becoming an international singer.

Ward’s jokes called Gabriel a bad singer, stating that he was “terminally ill” and that Gabriel not passing away meant that his “Make a Wish” was invalid. Gabriel was not actually terminally ill, as Gabriel’s genetic disease—Treacher Collins syndrome—does not generally have an effect on lifespan. He was also not a Make-a-Wish kid, as Ward was embellishing the story for the sake of the joke.

Ward’s jokes make have been tasteless, but does that mean he should have to pay $35,000? I don’t think so, but the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal ruled the joke was discrimination against Gabriel and his parents and ordered Ward to pay damages for “making discriminatory comments regarding Jéremy Gabriel, infringing his right to equality.”

Somehow making a joke is now actually impeding on peoples equality.

 

 

He intends on not paying it and preferring prison time instead, and plans on taking the case to the Canadian Supreme Court.

Quote

Mike Ward responded to the verdict on Twitter, declaring that he refuses to pay the fine, and plans to take this fight to the Supreme Court. “In a ‘free’ country, it shouldn’t be up to a judge to decide what constitutes a joke on stage. The people in attendance laughing already answered that question.”

“I’m telling you right now, I [sic] rather go to prison than pay even one-tenth of this stupid fine.”

 

Meanwhile various news articles and Nazi Pug Man have reported on this moment of inclusiveness and expressive freedom.

https://pjmedia.com/trending/canadian-comedian-ordered-to-pay-35000-over-a-joke/ 

 

 

As a personal note, I remember getting into an argument not too long ago about how dangerous this kind of thing was where you can be fined or jailed for calling someone a name or saying a joke they don't like, and I was lambasted as people swore this would never happen, like it did to Nazi Pug Man, who was both arrested and fined, and now any job he manages to get the media sniffs out and promptly ensures he gets fired, so he's basically unemployed and unemployable now.

 

Relevant;

 

#Muricaparrotgang

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, JZStudios said:

He intends on not paying it and preferring prison time instead,

You don't get to choose, though. You get the sentence you get, which is tied to the act you are accused of, and you can't substitute at will.

You can not comply, though, just like you can have a loan and not pay its installments. But just like in that example, you just get your assets or a fraction of our income seized until the debt is paid.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, SpaceGhostC2C said:

You don't get to choose, though. You get the sentence you get, which is tied to the act you are accused of, and you can't substitute at will.

You can not comply, though, just like you can have a loan and not pay its installments. But just like in that example, you just get your assets or a fraction of our income seized until the debt is paid.

If anything, if he refuses, he'll just end up serving time and he'll still be on the hook for the fine.

 

If he truly believes he's innocent of a crime, then yes, he needs to appeal the decision all the way up the court system. Of course, it'll be years before he reaches the Supreme Court.

 

Just to clarify, the Tribunal awarded the kid money specifically because "Mr. Ward’s comments about Jérémy Gabriel’s disability compromised the young performer’s right to the safeguard of his dignity".

 

Additionally, the Superior Court of Quebec already upheld the ruling from the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal. This makes it more likely for him to get to the Supreme Court, but it also doesn't help his chances of winning.

 

Is that wrong? Is that acceptable? I'm gonna leave that up to the Supreme Court to decide, if it makes it that far.

 

Does calling something a joke count as a defense against basically lying about someone and making up details?

For Sale: Meraki Bundle

 

iPhone Xr 128 GB Product Red - HP Spectre x360 13" (i5 - 8 GB RAM - 256 GB SSD) - HP ZBook 15v G5 15" (i7-8850H - 16 GB RAM - 512 GB SSD - NVIDIA Quadro P600)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

23 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

Does calling something a joke count as a defense against basically lying about someone and making up details?

When it's the middle of a stand up comedy routine, yes. "Roasting" audience members used to be a common occurrence. It's not like the guy was outing him as a fraud as trying to deplatform him.

#Muricaparrotgang

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

Following to watch the shitshow go down.

 

This is insane, and anybody who supports the courts decision probably is as well (though feel free to prove me wrong, I honestly want to be.)

Brands I wholeheartedly reccomend (though do have flawed products): Apple, Razer, Corsair, Asus, Gigabyte, bequiet!, Noctua, Fractal, GSkill (RAM only)

Wall Of Fame (Informative people/People I like): @Glenwing @DrMacintosh @Schnoz @TempestCatto @LogicalDrm @Dan Castellaneta

Useful threads: 

How To Make Your Own Cloud Storage

Spoiler

 

Guide to Display Cables/Adapters

Spoiler

 

PSU Tier List (Latest)-

Spoiler

 

 

Main PC: See spoiler tag

Laptop: 2020 iPad Pro 12.9" with Magic Keyboard

Spoiler

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/gKh8zN

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 3.8 GHz 12-Core OEM/Tray Processor  (Purchased For $419.99) 
Motherboard: Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Formula ATX AM4 Motherboard  (Purchased For $356.99) 
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  (Purchased For $130.00) 
Storage: Kingston Predator 240 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  (Purchased For $40.00) 
Storage: Crucial MX300 1.05 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (Purchased For $100.00) 
Storage: Western Digital Red 8 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  (Purchased For $180.00) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB WINDFORCE Video Card  (Purchased For $370.00) 
Case: Fractal Design Define R6 USB-C ATX Mid Tower Case  (Purchased For $100.00) 
Power Supply: Corsair RMi 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (Purchased For $120.00) 
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer  (Purchased For $75.00) 
Total: $1891.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-04-02 19:59 EDT-0400

身のなわたしはる果てぞ  悲しわたしはかりけるわたしは

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, JZStudios said:

When it's the middle of a stand up comedy routine, yes. "Roasting" audience members used to be a common occurrence.

Roasting, sure. But as far as I'm aware, he wasn't even in the audience.

10 minutes ago, JZStudios said:

It's not like the guy was outing him as a fraud as trying to deplatform him.

But we don't actually know his intentions. If people were to believe the jokes, they would think this kid is a fraud basically. I don't know enough context to say too much, but it's very possible that this joke caused the kid real hardship.

 

As I said, I'll let the Supreme Court decide whether what Mr Ward did was wrong or not, constitutionally.

For Sale: Meraki Bundle

 

iPhone Xr 128 GB Product Red - HP Spectre x360 13" (i5 - 8 GB RAM - 256 GB SSD) - HP ZBook 15v G5 15" (i7-8850H - 16 GB RAM - 512 GB SSD - NVIDIA Quadro P600)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

Ask Google to define Crime and you get the THREE following definitions.  Pay attention to the last one - its worded very specifically as they try to change our freedoms by defining them:

 

 

 

"AN ACTION OR ACTIVITY THAT, ALTHOUGH NOT ILLEGAL, IS CONSIDERED TO BE EVIL, SHAMEFUL, OR WRONG"

 

Your freedoms aren't taken in large steps, or we revolt.  They are eroded slowly over time so that by the time you notice - they are to far gone to fight back.

capture1123.PNG

Workstation Laptop: Dell Precision 7540, Xeon E-2276M, 32gb DDR4, Quadro T2000 GPU, 4k display

Wifes Rig: ASRock B550m Riptide, Ryzen 5 5600X, Sapphire Nitro+ RX 6700 XT, 16gb (2x8) 3600mhz V-Color Skywalker RAM, ARESGAME AGS 850w PSU, 1tb WD Black SN750, 500gb Crucial m.2, DIYPC MA01-G case

My Rig: ASRock B450m Pro4, Ryzen 5 3600, ARESGAME River 5 CPU cooler, EVGA RTX 2060 KO, 16gb (2x8) 3600mhz TeamGroup T-Force RAM, ARESGAME AGV750w PSU, 1tb WD Black SN750 NVMe Win 10 boot drive, 3tb Hitachi 7200 RPM HDD, Fractal Design Focus G Mini custom painted.  

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 video card benchmark result - AMD Ryzen 5 3600,ASRock B450M Pro4 (3dmark.com)

Daughter 1 Rig: ASrock B450 Pro4, Ryzen 7 1700 @ 4.2ghz all core 1.4vCore, AMD R9 Fury X w/ Swiftech KOMODO waterblock, Custom Loop 2x240mm + 1x120mm radiators in push/pull 16gb (2x8) Patriot Viper CL14 2666mhz RAM, Corsair HX850 PSU, 250gb Samsun 960 EVO NVMe Win 10 boot drive, 500gb Samsung 840 EVO SSD, 512GB TeamGroup MP30 M.2 SATA III SSD, SuperTalent 512gb SATA III SSD, CoolerMaster HAF XM Case. 

https://www.3dmark.com/3dm/37004594?

Daughter 2 Rig: ASUS B350-PRIME ATX, Ryzen 7 1700, Sapphire Nitro+ R9 Fury Tri-X, 16gb (2x8) 3200mhz V-Color Skywalker, ANTEC Earthwatts 750w PSU, MasterLiquid Lite 120 AIO cooler in Push/Pull config as rear exhaust, 250gb Samsung 850 Evo SSD, Patriot Burst 240gb SSD, Cougar MX330-X Case

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

Quote

 stating that he was “terminally ill” and that Gabriel not passing away meant that his “Make a Wish” was invalid. Gabriel was not actually terminally ill, as Gabriel’s genetic disease—Treacher Collins syndrome—does not generally have an effect on lifespan. He was also not a Make-a-Wish kid, as Ward was embellishing the story for the sake of the joke.

thats a easy defamation case right there saying that he was lying to a charity to get money even though he never did that

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

Just now, spartaman64 said:

thats a easy defamation case right there saying that he was lying to a charity to get money even though he never did that

Indeed - it does seem to have at least some validity.

 

The ultimate question is can you make those kinds of statements and use "it was a joke" as a defense - especially if you would 100% lose easily if you hadn't claimed it was a joke?

 

Now, I'm not a law expert, so if the tribunal outcome was valid, the Supreme Court will uphold it (as the Superior Court did).

 

If it's not valid, and it's violating Ward's freedom of expression (which includes speech), then he'll win.

For Sale: Meraki Bundle

 

iPhone Xr 128 GB Product Red - HP Spectre x360 13" (i5 - 8 GB RAM - 256 GB SSD) - HP ZBook 15v G5 15" (i7-8850H - 16 GB RAM - 512 GB SSD - NVIDIA Quadro P600)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

Indeed - it does seem to have at least some validity.

 

The ultimate question is can you make those kinds of statements and use "it was a joke" as a defense - especially if you would 100% lose easily if you hadn't claimed it was a joke?

 

Now, I'm not a law expert, so if the tribunal outcome was valid, the Supreme Court will uphold it (as the Superior Court did).

 

If it's not valid, and it's violating Ward's freedom of expression (which includes speech), then he'll win.

I feel like this might end up depending on the context.  Just as you can be photographed legally without consent anywhere in public but not in a bathroom because the former context does not carry with it an expectation of privacy, while the latter does, perhaps attending a comedy show - an event where you expect many things not based on any fact to be said, and sometimes targeted at audience members - constitutes an acceptance that something like this would be said, meaning the comedian is free of any wrongdoing, despite the fact that if this was done elsewhere, he would be in trouble, because in that context the "target" would not have consented to being involved in this.

Solve your own audio issues  |  First Steps with RPi 3  |  Humidity & Condensation  |  Sleep & Hibernation  |  Overclocking RAM  |  Making Backups  |  Displays  |  4K / 8K / 16K / etc.  |  Do I need 80+ Platinum?

If you can read this you're using the wrong theme.  You can change it at the bottom.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

Defamation:

the action of damaging the good reputation of someone; slander or libel.

 

Reputation:

the beliefs or opinions that are generally held about someone or something.

 

Joke:

a thing that someone says to cause amusement or laughter, especially a story with a funny punchline.

 

Thing:

1.)an object that one need not, cannot, or does not wish to give a specific name to.

2.)an inanimate material object as distinct from a living sentient being.

 

A real lawyer is going to have a hayday with this case, he is a comedian:

an entertainer whose act is designed to make an audience laugh.

 

Comedy:

professional entertainment consisting of jokes and satirical sketches, intended to make an audience laugh.

 

Satire:

the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.

 

Exaggerate:

represent (something) as being larger, better, or worse than it really is.

 

He was simply being a Comedian which is a recognized Profession that he pays his taxes through the income he generates.  He told a joke that exaggerated the situation.  I was sure it would be the USA doing something this stupid before Canada.  Yall really need to protest or watch your freedoms slowly erode away.

 

 

 

 

Workstation Laptop: Dell Precision 7540, Xeon E-2276M, 32gb DDR4, Quadro T2000 GPU, 4k display

Wifes Rig: ASRock B550m Riptide, Ryzen 5 5600X, Sapphire Nitro+ RX 6700 XT, 16gb (2x8) 3600mhz V-Color Skywalker RAM, ARESGAME AGS 850w PSU, 1tb WD Black SN750, 500gb Crucial m.2, DIYPC MA01-G case

My Rig: ASRock B450m Pro4, Ryzen 5 3600, ARESGAME River 5 CPU cooler, EVGA RTX 2060 KO, 16gb (2x8) 3600mhz TeamGroup T-Force RAM, ARESGAME AGV750w PSU, 1tb WD Black SN750 NVMe Win 10 boot drive, 3tb Hitachi 7200 RPM HDD, Fractal Design Focus G Mini custom painted.  

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 video card benchmark result - AMD Ryzen 5 3600,ASRock B450M Pro4 (3dmark.com)

Daughter 1 Rig: ASrock B450 Pro4, Ryzen 7 1700 @ 4.2ghz all core 1.4vCore, AMD R9 Fury X w/ Swiftech KOMODO waterblock, Custom Loop 2x240mm + 1x120mm radiators in push/pull 16gb (2x8) Patriot Viper CL14 2666mhz RAM, Corsair HX850 PSU, 250gb Samsun 960 EVO NVMe Win 10 boot drive, 500gb Samsung 840 EVO SSD, 512GB TeamGroup MP30 M.2 SATA III SSD, SuperTalent 512gb SATA III SSD, CoolerMaster HAF XM Case. 

https://www.3dmark.com/3dm/37004594?

Daughter 2 Rig: ASUS B350-PRIME ATX, Ryzen 7 1700, Sapphire Nitro+ R9 Fury Tri-X, 16gb (2x8) 3200mhz V-Color Skywalker, ANTEC Earthwatts 750w PSU, MasterLiquid Lite 120 AIO cooler in Push/Pull config as rear exhaust, 250gb Samsung 850 Evo SSD, Patriot Burst 240gb SSD, Cougar MX330-X Case

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Tristerin said:

I was sure it would be the USA doing something this stupid before Canada

Looking at whose in charge in Moose Land, why would you think that?

Come Bloody Angel

Break off your chains

And look what I've found in the dirt.

 

Pale battered body

Seems she was struggling

Something is wrong with this world.

 

Fierce Bloody Angel

The blood is on your hands

Why did you come to this world?

 

Everybody turns to dust.

 

Everybody turns to dust.

 

The blood is on your hands.

 

The blood is on your hands!

 

Pyo.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Tristerin said:

Defamation:

the action of damaging the good reputation of someone; slander or libel.

 

Reputation:

the beliefs or opinions that are generally held about someone or something.

 

Joke:

a thing that someone says to cause amusement or laughter, especially a story with a funny punchline.

 

Thing:

1.)an object that one need not, cannot, or does not wish to give a specific name to.

2.)an inanimate material object as distinct from a living sentient being.

A real lawyer is going to have a hayday with this case, he is a comedian:

an entertainer whose act is designed to make an audience laugh.

 

Comedy:

professional entertainment consisting of jokes and satirical sketches, intended to make an audience laugh.

 

Satire:

the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.

 

Exaggerate:

represent (something) as being larger, better, or worse than it really is.

 

He was simply being a Comedian which is a recognized Profession that he pays his taxes through the income he generates.  He told a joke that exaggerated the situation.  I was sure it would be the USA doing something this stupid before Canada.  Yall really need to protest or watch your freedoms slowly erode away.

 

 

 

 

idk someone lying about someone stealing from charity comedic or not isnt the hill i want to die defending. its not even an exaggeration an exaggeration would be that guy was so bad at singing that the titanic sank or something

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

I feel like this might end up depending on the context.  Just as you can be photographed legally without consent anywhere in public but not in a bathroom because the former context does not carry with it an expectation of privacy, while the latter does, perhaps attending a comedy show - an event where you expect many things not based on any fact to be said, and sometimes targeted at audience members - constitutes an acceptance that something like this would be said, meaning the comedian is free of any wrongdoing, despite the fact that if this was done elsewhere, he would be in trouble, because in that context the "target" would not have consented to being involved in this.

I don't see anywhere that states Gabriel was an audience member. If this is correct, and he was not an audience member, then he consented to nothing.

2 minutes ago, comander said:

The issue that I have is: Is the Human Rights Tribunal an unbiased political body?
My suspicion is that it isn't. http://www.sjto.gov.on.ca/hrto/application-and-hearing-process/ (not the same committee but I suspect it's similar)

From what I understand its members are NOT democratically elected (they're vetted by people who are likely to choose people with similar views and predispositions to themselves) and I wouldn't be surprised if this has resulted in institutionalized prejudice - using tax payer dollars.   

Judges aren't elected either - you know that, right?

2 minutes ago, comander said:



-----

With that said, the bit that I do understand of Canadian law (which is limited) is that freedom of speech protections are not as strong as in the US. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_speech_in_Canada I could see the misleading things stated as being adequate to sink a person, though I'm not sure how strong the Mens Rea requirements are under Canadian law. 

Freedom of Expression in Canada is fundamentally similar to the US, but there are limits placed on it so that you can't use your rights to violate someone else's rights.

 

There are always lines drawn - even in the US. There's no such thing as true 100% freedom of speech - otherwise you'd be able to perform defamation or libel or yell "fire" in a crowded movie theatre, etc.

 

The difference is simply where the line is drawn. A heavily fascist country might draw the line incredibly broadly, such that anything and everything can be banned or fined. A democratic country like Canada might draw a much smaller line, and another democratic country like the US might draw an even smaller line.

For Sale: Meraki Bundle

 

iPhone Xr 128 GB Product Red - HP Spectre x360 13" (i5 - 8 GB RAM - 256 GB SSD) - HP ZBook 15v G5 15" (i7-8850H - 16 GB RAM - 512 GB SSD - NVIDIA Quadro P600)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

Just now, dalekphalm said:

I don't see anywhere that states Gabriel was an audience member. If this is correct, and he was not an audience member, then he consented to nothing.

Oh, yeah I suppose.  I somehow got it in my head that he was but if not then that explains this I think.  Personally I think the context thing I described is important in this because going completely one way or the other would be silly.  We cannot allow a situation where people can just say whatever they feel like without consequences and get away with anything by later saying "it was a joke" - that's why there are laws against things like slander, etc. - however we also definitely want to avoid a situation where no one can say anything without fear of being sued for something like "hurt feelings", such as in this case.

Solve your own audio issues  |  First Steps with RPi 3  |  Humidity & Condensation  |  Sleep & Hibernation  |  Overclocking RAM  |  Making Backups  |  Displays  |  4K / 8K / 16K / etc.  |  Do I need 80+ Platinum?

If you can read this you're using the wrong theme.  You can change it at the bottom.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

Oh, yeah I suppose.  I somehow got it in my head that he was but if not then that explains this I think.  Personally I think the context thing I described is important in this because going completely one way or the other would be silly.  We cannot allow a situation where people can just say whatever they feel like without consequences and get away with anything by later saying "it was a joke" - that's why there are laws against things like slander, etc. - however we also definitely want to avoid a situation where no one can say anything without fear of being sued for something like "hurt feelings", such as in this case.

idk its pretty easy for me not to accuse someone of stealing from charity without knowing if they did or not

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

The ultimate question is can you make those kinds of statements and use "it was a joke" as a defense - especially if you would 100% lose easily if you hadn't claimed it was a joke?

I don't know how it works in Canada either. I do know that, at least to some courts in the US, it is indeed enough to say it jokingly, in a context in which it's clearly an exaggeration or it is understood that is satirical speed, or something along those lines. I don't remember the exact quite, but it is somewhere in this video:

 

Spoiler

 

Again, this example happened in the US, not Canada, before someone assumes the same applies, or that I'm implying the same applies :P

I think a similar logic is what allows newspapers like The Onion to exist around the world (and they are in a tougher position, since every now and then someone cites them as a serious source or criticize them for terrible, misinforming journalism :D).

 

Now, given the current ruling in OP's case, I would tend to think that the case at the very least is not clear-cut in favor of the defendant under Canadian law...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, SpaceGhostC2C said:

I don't know how it works in Canada either. I do know that, at least to some courts in the US, it is indeed enough to say it jokingly, in a context in which it's clearly an exaggeration or it is understood that is satirical speed, or something along those lines. I don't remember the exact quite, but it is somewhere in this video:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Again, this example happened in the US, not Canada, before someone assumes the same applies, or that I'm implying the same applies :P

I think a similar logic is what allows newspapers like The Onion to exist around the world (and they are in a tougher position, since every now and then someone cites them as a serious source or criticize them for terrible, misinforming journalism :D).

 

Now, given the current ruling in OP's case, I would tend to think that the case at the very least is not clear-cut in favor of the defendant under Canadian law...

I would classify it the same as companies being allowed to lie in their marketing, under something called 'puffery'. Where something is so clearly not true that nobody is expected to believe it.

Laptop:

Spoiler

HP OMEN 15 - Intel Core i7 9750H, 16GB DDR4, 512GB NVMe SSD, Nvidia RTX 2060, 15.6" 1080p 144Hz IPS display

PC:

Spoiler

Vacancy - Looking for applicants, please send CV

Mac:

Spoiler

2009 Mac Pro 8 Core - 2 x Xeon E5520, 16GB DDR3 1333 ECC, 120GB SATA SSD, AMD Radeon 7850. Soon to be upgraded to 2 x 6 Core Xeons

Phones:

Spoiler

LG G6 - Platinum (The best colour of any phone, period)

LG G7 - Moroccan Blue

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, SpaceGhostC2C said:

I don't know how it works in Canada either. I do know that, at least to some courts in the US, it is indeed enough to say it jokingly, in a context in which it's clearly an exaggeration or it is understood that is satirical speed, or something along those lines. I don't remember the exact quite, but it is somewhere in this video:

 

  Hide contents

 

Again, this example happened in the US, not Canada, before someone assumes the same applies, or that I'm implying the same applies :P

I think a similar logic is what allows newspapers like The Onion to exist around the world (and they are in a tougher position, since every now and then someone cites them as a serious source or criticize them for terrible, misinforming journalism :D).

 

Now, given the current ruling in OP's case, I would tend to think that the case at the very least is not clear-cut in favor of the defendant under Canadian law...

Could be - that's quite a different situation, with the John Oliver show literally being satirical but still mostly true news. Plus the fact that a lot of what Oliver said was backed up with at least some evidence.

 

Additionally, in the US specifically, there's a clause that allows journalists to be at least somewhat untruthful so as to protect the institution of journalism as a whole.

7 minutes ago, yolosnail said:

I would classify it the same as companies being allowed to lie in their marketing, under something called 'puffery'. Where something is so clearly not true that nobody is expected to believe it.

I don't think that would apply - how can you say what he claimed was "so clearly not true"? People could easily be expected to believe that Gabriel made up his illness and faked being terminal, etc. It's not exactly like that's never happened. And lots of people believe comedians because "it's funny because it's true" type scenarios are common.

 

Now, I'm not saying Gabriel was correct or not. Personally I would draw the line at whether Gabriel experienced real undue hardships because of Ward's jokes (Example: people confronted him and accused him of lying, etc).

 

You can joke about other people, but that doesn't mean you should do it to the point where you make their life a living hell - especially if they didn't even do something wrong.

For Sale: Meraki Bundle

 

iPhone Xr 128 GB Product Red - HP Spectre x360 13" (i5 - 8 GB RAM - 256 GB SSD) - HP ZBook 15v G5 15" (i7-8850H - 16 GB RAM - 512 GB SSD - NVIDIA Quadro P600)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

Judgment is stupid but article doesn't really mention that there was a clear persistence on Jéremy's case.

 

Also we're talking about the same humorist who thought it was intelligent to make jokes about Cédrika Provencher, a 10-year-old girl who was abducted and murdered.

Desktop: 7800x3d @ stock, 64gb ddr4 @ 6000, 3080Ti, x670 Asus Strix

 

Laptop: Dell G3 15 - i7-8750h @ stock, 16gb ddr4 @ 2666, 1050Ti 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

I don't think that would apply - how can you say what he claimed was "so clearly not true"? People could easily be expected to believe that Gabriel made up his illness and faked being terminal, etc. It's not exactly like that's never happened. And lots of people believe comedians because "it's funny because it's true" type scenarios are common.

For me, the fact that a comedian said it during a performance is enough to make me think it's clearly not true.

 

You don't actually believe that a horse walked into a bar, and the barman said "Why the long face?", do you?

Laptop:

Spoiler

HP OMEN 15 - Intel Core i7 9750H, 16GB DDR4, 512GB NVMe SSD, Nvidia RTX 2060, 15.6" 1080p 144Hz IPS display

PC:

Spoiler

Vacancy - Looking for applicants, please send CV

Mac:

Spoiler

2009 Mac Pro 8 Core - 2 x Xeon E5520, 16GB DDR3 1333 ECC, 120GB SATA SSD, AMD Radeon 7850. Soon to be upgraded to 2 x 6 Core Xeons

Phones:

Spoiler

LG G6 - Platinum (The best colour of any phone, period)

LG G7 - Moroccan Blue

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

Just now, yolosnail said:

For me, the fact that a comedian said it during a performance is enough to make me think it's clearly not true.

 

You don't actually believe that a horse walked into a bar, and the barman said "Why the long face?", do you?

That's not a good comparison, since by definition, a horse cannot talk.

 

However, he's taking a at least mildly well known person with physical deformities, and he's making exaggerations about the nature of his condition - a condition that's rare and most people don't know anything about.

 

Also, on top of that, comedians joke about real things all the time. Sometimes it's not easy to tell what they're exaggerating or making up vs what's actually true.

For Sale: Meraki Bundle

 

iPhone Xr 128 GB Product Red - HP Spectre x360 13" (i5 - 8 GB RAM - 256 GB SSD) - HP ZBook 15v G5 15" (i7-8850H - 16 GB RAM - 512 GB SSD - NVIDIA Quadro P600)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, JZStudios said:

ordered by a Quebec judge to pay $35,000

thats all I needed to read

 

quebec is messed up when it comes to laws, like really really messed up

 

hopefully the comedian can take it to the supreme court where normalcy remains somewhat

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, dalekphalm said:

Also, on top of that, comedians joke about real things all the time. Sometimes it's not easy to tell what they're exaggerating or making up vs what's actually true.

Which is exactly why I don't believe anything a comedian says, and neither should anybody!

 

11 minutes ago, Andreas Lilja said:

Also we're talking about the same humorist who thought it was intelligent to make jokes about Cédrika Provencher, a 10-year-old girl who was abducted and murdered.

And? There is nothing that can't be joked about!

As a fan of dark humour, some of my favourite jokes are at the expense of dead people. To misquote JerryRigEverything, people are people, and people die.

 

Also, I've never understood why people seem to treat jokes about dead children as worse than jokes about dead adults, they are both equally bad, and equally hilarious (and if you don't find that type of joke funny, don't read/listen to them!)

Laptop:

Spoiler

HP OMEN 15 - Intel Core i7 9750H, 16GB DDR4, 512GB NVMe SSD, Nvidia RTX 2060, 15.6" 1080p 144Hz IPS display

PC:

Spoiler

Vacancy - Looking for applicants, please send CV

Mac:

Spoiler

2009 Mac Pro 8 Core - 2 x Xeon E5520, 16GB DDR3 1333 ECC, 120GB SATA SSD, AMD Radeon 7850. Soon to be upgraded to 2 x 6 Core Xeons

Phones:

Spoiler

LG G6 - Platinum (The best colour of any phone, period)

LG G7 - Moroccan Blue

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


×