Sumaya Jirde Ali (24) has filed a complaint against comedian Atle Antonsen (53) after he was allegedly ‘too dark-skinned’ to be there at a nightclub.
In a lengthy Facebook post, Norwegian and Somali award winner Sumaya Jirde Ali (24) recounts an incident she writes she carried with her for three weeks.
The incident took place in Oslo’s Bar Boca on the night of 23 October.
There, Antonsen allegedly spoke to her in English, was aggressive and asked her to shut up multiple times, according to Ali. Eventually she said “Your skin is too dark to be here,” she writes in his Facebook status.
VG has been in contact with the friend she was at the bar with, Cathrine Linn Kristiansen, who confirms Ali’s descriptions of what happened.
Atle Antonsen writes the following in an SMS to VG:
– This is a sad and unfortunate matter, but since there is a police report, it would be inappropriate for me to comment on this now. I hope I understand for this, she writes.
Survey completed
VG is in contact with the Oslo police, who confirm that they have received a report in relation to an incident at Bar Boca in Oslo on 23 October. Police prosecutor Marianne Aune writes in an email that the case is coded as “hate speech” and “reckless behaviour”.
Police also say that both the victim, the suspect and witnesses present have been questioned.
– The case has been fully investigated and is awaiting prosecutorial review, police wrote.
General manager Daniel Gjerde Fouche at Bar Boca was himself at work on the night in question. He confirms that he was later in contact with the police about the existing complaint, but he says he did not understand what should have happened on the evening in question.
– I have not observed anything that was a basis for a reaction, he tells VG.
He says the episode was also not a topic that reached him later that evening.
I should’ve said “Your skin is too dark to be here”
In the Facebook post, Ali writes that she and a friend had a good time at a café with strangers, before she and her friend sat down at a table – and were suddenly interrupted by Antonsen, who was sitting across from her. .
He spoke to her in English at first, according to Ali, after which she giggles and replies “æ kan Norsk assa”. But then the tone changes, according to Ali:
She describes Antonsen as drunk and aggressive, and that he unprovokedly asked her to “shut up” several times.
According to Ali, Antonsen then said “your skin is too dark to be here”. There must have been several witnesses to the crash, and according to Ali, Antonsen must also have turned to them to ask if they disagree that he is “too dark-skinned to be here”.
Ali also writes that Antonsen texted her the following Wednesday and apologized for his behavior. VG saw the apology.
Sumaya Jirde Ali tells VG through a friend that she refers to her Facebook status and is unwilling to provide further comment on Tuesday.
Ali writes on Facebook that she was deeply affected by the incident.
“I reported because it is the right thing to do. Because he gave me a sense of control after being robbed verbally and physically. I’m writing about it now because it’s redemptive, because it’s an attempt to regain control and put the discomfort in its right place.” she writes.
Confirm Incident: – No humor to track
Sumaya Jirde Ali’s friend Cathrine Linn Kristiansen tells VG she can verify what is written in Ali’s Facebook post and confirms that he has been acting very aggressive.
– Exactly, quite simply, she says.
– He screamed very loud, and said his skin was too dark to be there, he said it more than once, she confirms.
She explains that it was just the two of them out together, having a drink in town – and suddenly Antonsen stands there “super aggressive.”
– Then there is something about the fact that he is Atle, he is what he is. We try to figure out if it was a joke by giving it ‘the benefit of the doubt’ but there was no humor to detect. Actually he wasn’t, says the friend.
– Provocative
He finds it particularly provocative that none of the others who caught him took action. He estimates that five or six middle-aged men to his right took it, but didn’t fight back. These were the same people Antonsen had approached to ask if they disagreed that Ali was “too dark to be there.”
– It made it all the more burdensome that we were so alone in that situation, she points out.
– It was very provocative. We were two girls, Sumaya is 24 years old, while he is very mature, aggressive and a famous man. That was the cowardice that was being illustrated there, then. Then we tried to tell both of them. There was an extra dimension to the fact that there was no help to be had.
– I’d like to believe it has something to do with who was the originator of that racism, without speculating, says Kristiansen.
