Colleagues Nizar and Shayan Garcia now also in the firing line

Tasteless jokes about people with disabilities have put Luke Mockridge in the crossfire of criticism. But what about the others who joined in?

Steven Sowa / t-online

This derailment prevents Luke Mockridge’s TV comeback: “There are people without arms and legs who are thrown into a pool – and whoever drowns last wins,” he said in the podcast “Die Deutschen”. The hosts of the format are the comedian Nizar and the YouTuber Shayan Garcia. Both burst into loud laughter, make questionable comments about disabled people and imitate people with physical disabilities in a degrading way.

There are already consequences for Luke Mockridge: A storm of indignation swept over the comedian at the weekend. The broadcaster Sat.1 pulled the ripcord and cancelled the TV comeback with the new show “What’s in the Box?”, which was originally planned for September 12th. But hardly anyone is talking about Nizar and Shayan Garcia.

The comedian Nizar had announced Luke Mockridge’s visit to X as follows: “Get ready, Woke Bubble. As befits a goblin, I’ve teased out a really disgusting side. I’m looking forward to the whining.” The man was obviously well aware of how over the line the comments in the podcast were. It even seems as if the anti-disabled jokes were used as a deliberate provocation to increase attention.

It was only recently that Nizar was noticed for his indiscretions, when he openly anti-Semiticly referred to Jewish people as “gold coin collectors” and dismissed a critic with the sentence “I don’t take advice from people who use gender.” Nizar has already been criticized in the past for anti-Semitic statements.

“They also made some really stupid statements”

Meanwhile, the focus has shifted somewhat in the latest case. Nizar and Shayan Garcia are now being criticized – and in contrast to Luke Mockridge, who has already taken a stand and apologized, the two remain silent. Numerous users online are calling on the two to apologize as well.

Olympic and world champion in track cycling, Kristina Vogel, wrote on Instagram to the podcast hosts: “They also made some really stupid statements and have kept a very, very low profile until now.” Vogel is in a wheelchair herself after a training accident in 2018. The author Jasmina Kuhnke wrote in response to a post by Nizar that one could consider “whether one wants to accept criticism and contribute to being part of the solution, or decide to remain part of the problem.”

But there is no response from the two podcasters. The last thing Nizar and Shayan posted on their social media channels is advertising for their “big arena tour”. Perhaps the increased attention will help them to sell out the rest of their shows – because so far this only applies to one date in Frankfurt.

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They are well received and bring in money. Stage shows of successful podcasts are booming. It is only a matter of time before such formats become mega-events in Switzerland too.

Last June, an earthquake of considerable magnitude occurred in the Swiss entertainment sector. The epicenter: the Kaufleuten Zurich. The trigger: the start of ticket sales for the show by podcasters Gülsha Adilji, Yvonne Eisenring and Maja Zivadinovic (“Zivadiliring”) scheduled for December at the Volkshaus Zurich.