Tig Notaro brands Amy Schumer comment about appearance and sexuality 'so offensive and weird'

The comedian was reacting to comments made in a 2013 interview

Tig Notaro (Getty Images)

Tig Notaro has reacted angrily to a suggestion by Amy Schumer that her sexuality makes being stand-up more difficult for her than other women.

The US comedian was interviewed by The Guardian about her stand-up career and life after being diagnosed with breast cancer and undergoing a double mastectomy.

Notaro was already a popular figure on the comedy circuit when the stand-up performance she gave a night after being told she had cancer propelled her into superstardom. Beginning her show with the now renowned first line: “Hello. I have cancer”, her spontaneous performance about the reality of her diagnosis was deemed one of the best stand-up shows in history by Louis CK.

She went on to appear in a number of shows and had her own Netflix series documenting her recovery. Notaro has also appeared on Schumer’s Inside Amy Schumer TV show and both comedians have been described as good friends. But her comments suggest the pair have a more tense relationship than previously thought.

The paper put a quote to Notaro which Schumer gave to Vanity Fair in 2013, where she suggested Notaro’s sexuality and appearance made being stand-up more difficult for her than other female comedians. “Looking masculine and being gay, the challenges of the road are 20 times harder for Tig than other female comedians. People fear what they don’t understand," Schumer was quoted as saying.

In the piece, Schumer was described as a ”close friend“, but an apparently riled Notaro's response put more distance between the pair.

“I don’t know what she was talking about,” she replied. “It sounds like offensive nonsense to me. I find that so offensive and weird. If you knew me well, you would never say that.”

When asked if she was friends with Schumer, Notaro gave a more ambiguous response. “I’ve worked with her. I worked with her for the first season [of Inside Amy Schumer]. Let’s leave it there.”

A representative for Schumer did not respond to a request for comment.