Reuben Kaye has opened up about the backlash he faced three years ago after a joke on The Project sparked a deluge of online hate and death threats. The joke, which referenced Jesus being nailed to a cross, was chosen by producers over a more provocative option about George Pell, who had recently died. Kaye said he was pulled from a morning TV segment the next day and The Project later apologised to viewers.
"I can't express what the pile-on was like," Kaye told Good Weekend. "It was just constantly 'Kill yourself. Die, faggot. We're coming for you. Watch yourself at your next gig. We know where you're performing. We know where you live. We're going to set your face on fire.'"
His talent agency was bombarded, with one man smashing through their front doors demanding an apology. Protesters marched at his shows carrying crucifixes and chanting the Lord's Prayer. Gigs and galas were cancelled, metal detectors were recommended at venues, and private security was hired. Kaye's family was put on a priority response list with police, and he urged relatives not to open any packages addressed to him.
"Their world had suddenly become scary, because of a joke," Kaye said. "That really broke my heart."
Now, more than three years on, Kaye is preparing to take on the lead role of Harold Zidler in a new production of Moulin Rouge! The Musical at the Sydney Lyric Theatre in March. The casting director Lisa Campbell said Kaye's audition surprised her with "the delicacy and the vulnerability" he brought to the role. Kaye said the part suits him because Zidler is compromised and cynical. "He gets comedy. He gets sex. He gets menace," Kaye said.
The article notes that Kaye has observed a rise in intolerance, and that who tells a joke matters more than the joke itself. "That's the scary thing and the relevant thing today," he said.