Malaysian comedian Shahrol Shiro recently called out fellow comedian Harith Iskander for a joke he deemed inappropriate.
Shahrol criticised Harith for body-shaming Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor during one of his recent shows.
Shahrol expressed his disappointment at Harith’s continued use of what he characterised as an “outdated” and “embarrassing” punchline.
During the show, Harith was explaining the top three “horror mythologies” in Malaysia. While the second and third spots were held by the Toyol and Pontianak, the screen displayed an image of Rosmah for the first spot.
Harith then jokingly screamed, “Take it out!”
“I’m sure you could come up with better jokes”
In a post on Threads, Shahrol stated that it was inappropriate to liken anyone to devils or ghosts. He emphasised that, regardless of the person being featured, he has never agreed with jokes that involve body-shaming.
Shahrol added that while he respects Harith as a senior figure in the Malaysian comedy scene, he believes the veteran could have delivered a better performance.
“You could’ve named three haunted places in Malaysia, with the first one being shopping malls. My wife went missing there once,” he suggested as an alternative.
“Make comedy great again in Malaysia”
Shahrol, who rose to fame through the Maharaja Lawak Mega programme, noted that contestants during his time avoided body-shaming as a comedic medium, noting that it should not be a trend today.
“I’m sure you could come up with better beats to deliver your joke. Let’s make the comedy industry in Malaysia rise again and build more constructive comedies,” he wrote.
Notably, this isn’t the first clash between the two. Last year, Shahrol lodged a police report against Harith over a “Ham Sap Kopi” joke, which eventually resulted in Harith being fined RM10,000.
At the time of writing (6 February), Harith has yet to respond to Shahrol’s criticism.
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