Rob Schneider defends his comedy after walkout at Saskatchewan show

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Rob Schneider is defending his style of comedy, saying he wouldn’t do anything differently after audience members walked out of a Saskatchewan hospital fundraiser.

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“I’m doing it right,” the American comedian told The Hollywood Reporter while promoting a New York City screening of his friend Adam Sandler’s Love You Netflix special on Tuesday.

“The thing about free speech is, free speech is all speech. Free speech isn’t for the nice stuff. It isn’t for the socially acceptable stuff. Free speech is the speech that challenges you. Free speech is the not-nice stuff. Easy speech or speech that’s acceptable to everybody doesn’t need any protection. I’m there to challenge the audience.”

Schneider, the Saturday Night Live alum who is set to release a book on free speech next month titled You Can Do It! Speak Your Mind, America, said it was OK if people get upset about the jokes he makes.

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“I think the more challenging the comedy is and society is, the more interesting the stand-up and art is going to be,” he said. “When everything’s smooth, art is boring. So the ’90s could have been kind of boring, but this is a good time now, and it’s a challenging time.”

On June 1, Schneider took to the stage for a Hospitals of Regina Foundation fundraiser. During the set, some of his comments and jokes didn’t sit well and, according to reports, some attendees booed and walked out.

It was reported that his set contained jokes about vaccines, the COVID-19 pandemic and LGBTQ2+ people.

The long-time Hollywood actor continued his set for a few more minutes before being asked to leave the stage by the foundation’s team.

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“While we recognize that in a free and democratic society individuals are entitled to their views and opinions and that comedy is intended to be edgy, the content, positions and opinions expressed during Mr. Schneider’s set do not align with the values of our foundation and team,” the Hospitals of Regina Foundation said in a statement at the time.

“We do not condone, accept, endorse or share Mr. Schneider’s positions, as expressed during his comedy set and acknowledge that in this instance the performance did not meet the expectations of our audience and our team.”

When asked about the Canadian show, Schneider said the country is “under a repressive regime where they call protesters terrorists.”

And he also said it is unlikely he will be invited back north of the border.

“I’m very proud that I didn’t bow to that dictatorship that (Prime Minister Justin) Trudeau is doing, and I’m happy to be one of those people that pissed them off,” he said. “And I’ll do it again if I get the chance, but I don’t think they’ll let me in anytime soon.”

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