Nish Kumar: Audience member who ‘pelted him with bread’ over Brexit joke needs ‘anger management’

‘Mash Report’ host was hit by the flying baked good at a charity dinner in December

Nish Kumar has said he believes an audience member who pelted him with a bread roll over a Brexit joke should seek anger management.

The comedian, who hosts the BBC series The Mash Report, was performing at the Lord’s Taverners annual cricket lunch in December when he was jeered at and hit by a flying piece of bread.

Footage from the charity gig was uploaded to social media, and saw Kumar being escorted off stage amid boos. His set included jokes about Brexit and former House of Commons speaker John Bercow, among other material.

At the time, Kumar joked on Twitter: “In my defence, it was only one bread roll and it missed me.”

Speaking to the Press Association, Kumar said that he believed the audience member should seek anger management.

“I’m entitled to express my opinion and they’re entitled to express their opinion about my opinion,” he said. “I think the guy that chucked the bread roll probably needs to be on an anger management course. I just think anytime as an adult [that] you’re flinging bread at someone, you’ve taken leave of your senses.”

Kumar also said he was more surprised by the amount of press attention the incident received than the bread roll throwing itself.

“The thing that was odder was the level of media interest in it,” the comedian explained. “The amount of news coverage it received was frankly baffling.”

He continued, “Certainly the actual booing itself, as mad as it sounds, I don’t really have a problem with it. I’m a comedian – worse things have happened to me.”

The Mash Report will return to BBC screens on Friday 3 April, though without a live studio audience due to coronavirus concerns. The series will see its participants film the show themselves from inside their own homes.