British comedian Stewart Lee has decided against booking a show in the US due to fears of arrest stemming from his jokes about Trump.
In a recent appearance on Channel 4’s *It Will Change the World*, Lee expressed concerns that US authorities might misinterpret his humor, leading to unwarranted imprisonment.
He expressed frustration about the current political climate, mentioning, “I can’t see how we get out of where we go,” referring to what he perceives as rising “fascism” in the US.
Lee remarked, “People are taking cats about this idea,” adding that there have been instances where individuals were deported without due process—specifically referencing Salvadoran prisons and Trump’s immigration policies.
He criticized Trump for engaging with dictators and suggested that people should take action against him, invoking historical comparisons that imply urgency, akin to responses during the 1930s against Hitler. Consequently, he reiterated his decision not to perform in the US.
“But I’m not working in the state at this time,” he said, explaining his concerns about potential arrest and being detained without access to necessary medication.
Although Lee remains relatively unknown in the US comedy scene, he has been a vocal critic of Trump in left-leaning British publications like the *Guardian*. However, he has not commented on issues of free speech in his own country.
Interestingly, while Lee claims oppression in the US, the UK’s “hate crime” laws continue to lead to numerous arrests of British citizens, raising questions about the actual state of free expression there.
Statistics show that UK authorities handled over 140,000 “hate crime” cases in the past year, yet the government does not disclose how many resulted in convictions or imprisonment.
Notably, UK police have threatened to extradite an American for social media posts that British officials classified as “dangerous,” reflecting a significant difference in how such matters are treated across the Atlantic.
Furthermore, a British YouTuber faced a fine for posting a comedic video involving his dog, a situation without any direct counterpart in the US concerning comedic social media content labeled as “hate crimes.”
