Comedian and actor Michael Rapaport slammed a leftist Canadian politician for encouraging lawmakers to ban him from doing stand-up comedy shows in the country.
The 54-year-old made his opinions known in a column he wrote for The Free Press in which he mentioned Canada’s New Democrat Party member Heather McPherson encouraging others to protest the comedian’s performance.
McPherson referenced Rapaport’s “significant criminal history,” history of “Islamophobic speech,” and tendencies towards “inciting violence” as reasons for the proposed ban.
“We are witnessing an alarming increase in Islamophobia in Canada and globally,” she wrote as part of a lengthy X thread shared late last month. “All Canadians deserve to feel safe in our communities. New Democrats are calling on the Liberal government to deny entry to Michael Rapaport.”
Statement calling on Canadian government to deny entry to Michael Rapaport – February 27, 2025
New Democrats are alarmed that American personality Michael Rapaport is scheduled to perform in Canada. @nccm 1/x— Heather McPherson (@HMcPhersonMP) February 27, 2025
She concluded by saying, “Hate has no place in Canada,” and tagging several other members of the Canadian Parliament in the post.
Rapaport called McPherson’s reasoning the “craziest campaign against me yet.”
He also responded to all the parliament member’s charges, writing, “I have no criminal history other than calling my ex-girlfriend Lili Taylor too many times back in 1997. (I’m not ashamed; I was in love). I have no outstanding warrants. I don’t have any parking tickets. As far as racist Islamophobia, my only phobia currently is of radical jihadists. I’ll admit: I have a phobia of anybody who wants to kill, hurt, or dehumanize Jews.”
Rapaport continued, “The irony is that McPherson, in her post, asserted that ‘hate has no place in Canada’—except, of course, when hate is directed toward Jews, which Canada apparently has no problem with,” he wrote, linking to a report which found a “670 percent increase in antisemitic incidents in Canada since October 7, 2023.”
“Rather than call attention to that—or the horrific antisemitism sweeping her own country—this member of Parliament is spending her capital making pleas to keep me out, rather than fixing whatever is going wrong in her own backyard,” he wrote.
Rapaport noted that his shows were still going on as planned later this week. “Luckily, at least for now, it seems [Canadian Prime Minister Justin] Trudeau and his party aren’t listening. I’ll still be crossing the border this week,” he concluded.
“If you’re reading this, Heather, I have front-row seats reserved for you and the New Democrats. That’s a genuine offer.”
