Aussie comedic duo The Inspired Unemployed have landed themselves in hot water after they pulled a prank at Sydney’s Love Unboxed event, which featured a panel of notable Aussie feminists Antoinette Lattouf, Clementine Ford and Yumi Stynes.
The Inspired Unemployed have been embroiled in controversy after they crashed a feminist event that featured a superb feminist panel. Although the stunt was revealed to be a skit for the second season of (Impractical) Jokers, punters who attended the event were left outraged over the stunt.
You see, according to the event’s ticket page, the event titled Love Unboxed was aimed to be “an evening of insightful discourse and thought-provoking discussion” on the “intricacies of sex, love, relationships and marriage”. The description also mentioned that a “guest” would be involved in the conversation.
“This event will also feature a special guest offering his perspective as a young male,” the description reads.
The identity of the “young male” was never revealed before the event.
When the event took place, the “special guest” was revealed to Jack Steele, one of the founding members of The Inspired Unemployed.
What did The Inspired Unemployment do at the Love Unboxed event?
According to Maybelline San Juan — who was present at the event and shared her perspective on her Instagram @definitelymaybelline — when Jack was introduced to the audience, no one really clocked who he was.
She also noted that there were signs around the venue saying that filming the event was prohibited, however, filming will be in progress during the chat.
But shit truly hit the fan when the panel began to ask the comedian questions regarding feminist topics, such as “why the male perspective” was important, what feminism means to him and questions surrounding consent.
In response to these questions, Steele made a bunch of comments that reportedly left the audience feeling “uncomfortable”.
“Antoinette had this back stack of cards to talk through all of these topics that were mentioned on the ad,” Maybelline began.
“If you could think of the most misogynistic answers and dumb answers to these questions, that was what was being said by Jack.”
The artist continued to highlight some of the stand-out comments Steele made such as, “yeah I think chicks dig consent” and “I really like girl writers”, which gained an audible gasp and reaction from the audience.
At the end of the confusing panel, Antoinette revealed the whole thing was a prank.
“It was explained to us that he had lost a bet and what is worse and more humiliating than being on a panel with three strong feminists and not being able to defend yourself or say anything worthwhile,” Maybelline shared.
Jai Mitchell (@ganticdotco), who was also present at the event, described the prank as “awkward” and that some folks might’ve perceived Steele’s presence as some kind of “performance art”.
As mentioned previously, the bit by Steele was reportedly a part of Season Two of The (Impractical) Jokers. In one of the stunts of the show, one of the comedians is fed lines through an earpiece. No matter how problematic or awkward the jokes are, the person wearing the earpiece must say it.
How did the audience react to The Inspired Unemployed’s prank?
When sharing his experience, Jai said he noticed that the audience wasn’t too happy with how the event unfolded.
“There were people in the audience that were genuinely horrified and traumatised, they were shocked,” Jai shared.
“There’s this guy in this safe space making horrible misogynistic dumb jokes. People were pissed.”
Jai continued to say the audience were so upset that some people “rioted” at the end of the event, after when they revealed the joke. He also added that Clementine, Yumi and Antoinette were apologetic after the audience voiced their concerns and that they stayed back to actually deep dive into the discussions that were advertised on the event.
Following his debrief of the event, Mitchell shared the moment when an audience member “accepted” the apologies of the panel.
“I’d really like to say I appreciate your apology and I feel like you made a mistake but I’m willing to accept your apologies,” an audience member can be heard saying.
The audience member continued to say “this was a shitshow” with another person describing the stunt as a “trainwreck”.
“Everybody makes mistakes, so thank you so much for your apology,” the audience member continued.
Later on, Steele then got up from the panel and apologised to the audience for the prank he pulled.
“I’m very sorry guys. I know I look like a fuckwit and you all hate me, I’m sorry,” he said before he left the stage. Unfortunately, his apology was not met with much forgiveness, with the same audience member saying “Jack, not so much.”
The online reaction to The Inspired Unemployed’s stunt at the Love Unboxed event
Following the event, Maybelline shared her experience in a lengthy video on Instagram. The video was met with other attendees who also shared their thoughts on what happened at Love Unboxed.
“I felt physically sick and uncomfortable since the moment he opened his mouth. It was deeply unsettling and painful to sit through,” one person wrote.
“I was there too, second row and what an absolute disaster,” another person commented on Maybelline’s post.
“I was there and walked out before it was over – it was disgusting, disrespectful to the fans who made the effort to be there, and played right into the [misogynistic] mocking of women as angry feminists for the entertainment of a mediocre white guy and his fans,” wrote a third.
The Inspired Unemployed, Clementine, Yumi and Antoinette have yet to comment publicly about the event or stunt. However, folks are continuing to slam The Inspired Unemployed for their stunt.
PEDESTRIAN.TV has reached out to The Inspired Unemployed, Clementine Ford, Yumi Stynes and Antoinette Lattouf for comment.
Image source: Instagram / @ganticdotco
