Pro-Palestine Portuguese artists withdraw from festival headlined by Jerry Seinfeld
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Several Portuguese artists have withdrawn from Lisbon’s inaugural MEO Commedia a La Carte Fest, an international comedy festival scheduled for October 29 to November 1, in a clear show of solidarity with Palestinians.
The event, headlined by American comedian Jerry Seinfeld in his first live appearance in Portugal, has become a flashpoint over the star’s outspoken support for ‘Israel’ amid the ongoing assault on Gaza.
Actress and comedian Inês Aires Pereira was among the first to make her position explicit.
Announcing the removal of her show Namastê from the lineup, she stated that “one of the names” at the festival “persistently defends ideas and acts that I consider indefensible,” adding firmly: “We cannot relativize or normalize a genocide.”
Comedy duo Cebola Mol—Eduardo Madeira and Filipe Homem Fonseca—followed suit, posting an image of themselves alongside a watermelon, the widely recognized symbol of Palestinian solidarity.
“We will celebrate justice, freedom and joy with you on another occasion,” they wrote, signaling that principles of justice outweighed the opportunity to perform at the new festival.
Other acts soon joined the withdrawals.
The musical project Tributo Pop, featuring Carolina Deslandes, Tatanka and Bárbara Tinoco, and the group Conjunto Cuca Monga both canceled without public explanation.
Comedian Pedro Tochas and renowned visual artist Vhils (Alexandre Farto) also stepped away, with Vhils confirming on Instagram that he had requested his name be removed from promotional materials after it appeared on festival posters.
The wave of cancellations has left organizers scrambling.
Reports indicate they briefly considered scaling the event down to only Seinfeld’s closing performance before exploring replacement acts.
Meanwhile, Seinfeld, long regarded as one of Hollywood’s most visible defenders of ‘Israel’ since the escalation of the conflict in October 2023, has offered no public response to the Portuguese boycott.
