Ray Jessel An 84-year-old man’s song with the punchline “she's got a penis” may have delighted America’s Got Talent's judges, but he and the show are facing angry backlash over the tune’s transphobia. Ray Jessel performed his original song What I Got about the time his friend met a girl he adored, which has the punchline "she's got a penis." The audience and host went into fits of laughter, and the judges said they loved it. Jessel’s Facebook page is now being hit with comments, some saying he is "funny" and "awesome" but most describing it as the likes of a “vile performance”. “Hopefully it will be your last performed song,” one poster says. “Spreading your transphobia and calling it comedy is reprehensible. This is why trans women have such a high rate of violence against them. Most trans people know they are trans as children. I would like you to think of how your disgusting song made any young trans person watching feel about themselves. “You, [America’s Got Talent], and everyone in the audience who laughed at this should be ashamed of yourselves for being on the wrong side of history.” A petition has also been set up urging the performance to be 'renounced and removed'.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 3rd July 2014 - 9:11am