A comedian’s 12-year court battle to defend a controversial joke has ended following the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision to dismiss an application to have a previous decision overturned.
Sylvie Gabriel, the mother of popular Quebec singer Jérémy Gabriel, attempted to obtain compensation from Quebec comedian Mike Ward over a joke he made about her son over a decade ago.
However, her application to overturn an unfavourable decision was dismissed on Thursday.
Ward’s jokes at Jérémy expense was nested within a larger premise that there were certain public figures in Quebec that were “untouchable” to ridicule. Ward’s bit also cited the likes of Céline Dion, actor Guy Lepage and other celebrities.
In referencing people who would criticize Jérémy’s vocal talents as a singer, Ward quipped, “He’s living his dream! He’s dying and he’s living his dream. Let him live his dream! He’s been dreaming since he was little to sing off-key in front of the Pope.”
Making light of the children’s Make-a-Wish program, dedicated to providing terminally ill children with a dying wish, Ward joked that he had mistakenly assumed that was the impetus for his successful career as a singer.
“I defended him, non-stop. But now it’s been five years and . . . f–k! He’s not dead yet! And he’s impossible to kill, too! I saw him last summer at the waterslides. I tried to drown him. Impossible! So I went on the internet to check what his disease really is. And do you know what he has? He’s f–king ugly!”
Ward has since said in interviews that he wouldn’t make the same joke now because people’s sensibilities have changed.
However, it was certainly acceptable at the time, with the Untouchables bit being featured in an hour-long show entitled Mike Ward s’eXpose which he performed around 230 times between 2010 and 2013.
There was also a taping of it sold on DVD which sported a cover photo of Ward with a red X over his mouth.
The comedy special can still be viewed on Amazon Prime.
Gabriel’s application had previously been upheld by the Court of Appeal.
Gabriel and her son initially launched the lawsuit after Ward made light of Jérémy’s disability in comedy taping that aired from 2010 to 2013.
Jérémy was a teenager at the time but already a well known public figure in Quebec.
He suffers from Treacher Collins syndrome, a physical disease from birth which causes deformities of the face and skull.
While the Supreme Court did not provide reasons for its dismissal, a regular practice for such requests, it did address the issue of lapsed time in Gabriel’s filing regarding the defamation and harassment suit.
Sylvie was claiming $84,600 from Ward on the basis that the joke made at Jérémy’s expense caused her significant harm.
However, the Supreme Court did not find Ward’s comments met the threshold of discrimination invoked by the plaintiffs.
At the time of the comedian’s joke, Jérémy was already a well-known public figure, known for his singing.
He sang alongside Céline Dion and presented a show at the Vatican for the Pope.
The Supreme Court previously intervened in this case, ruling in Ward’s favour in 2021 after overturning the initial decision that would force the comedian to pay out $35,000 to the Gabriel family.
It was a tight decision, with the judges arriving at their verdict in a 5-4 split.
The ruling stated that the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal did not have jurisdiction to rule on Gabriel’s discrimination complaint due to it being a defamation case.
The legal battle first began in 2012, when the complaint was brought before the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse for discrimination, where it was successful.
The Quebec Human Rights Tribunal later ordered Ward to pay Jérémy Gabriel $35,000 in 2016 as well as an additional $7,000 to his mother in moral and punitive damages.
The Court of Appeal upheld the tribunal’s ruling, endorsing the $35,000 payment to Jérémy but denied that damages would be paid to his mother.
The case would then go on to the Supreme Court. However, it ultimately concluded that the Gabriels’ decision to file their case with the Human Rights Tribunal was in error as should it have been filed as defamation rather than discrimination.