Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Comedian ridicules Isis with gay club anthem about falling in love with leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

Terje Sporsem says he wanted to use humour to protest against the Orlando attack

Lizzie Dearden
Wednesday 03 August 2016 10:02 BST
Comments

A Norwegian comedian has made a parody video depicting the leader of Isis as a dancing, closeted gay man in response to the Orlando shooting.

Terje Sporsem said he wanted to protest against the massacre in June, when an Isis supporter murdered 49 people at a LGBT-friendly nightclub in the worst US terror attack since 9/11.

The so-called Islamic State has since praised the “blessed attack on sodomite Crusaders” in its propaganda, where it advertises its own gruesome executions of Syrians and Iraqis accused of being gay.

Terje Sporsem's satirical video aimed to ridicule Isis after the Orlando shooting (Terje Sporsem/YouTube)

Mr Sporsem told Norway’s Verdens Gang newspaper he felt the group and its ideology must be ridiculed.

“I reacted very strongly to [the Orlando attack] and as a comedian I felt then that the best way to respond was with humour,” he said.

“We live in a world in which radicalisation and fundamentalism is a growing problem. I think humour is important because it helps to defuse what scares us, it’s fun.

“Besides, there is something musical about the name Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

The spoof video shows Mr Sporsem declaring his love for a man posing as the Isis “caliph”, skipping with him through the countryside and playing with his sword – complete with topless male backing dancers wearing rainbow feather boas.

Entitled “My Bagdaddy” the song’s lyrics include: “Look at me I’m ready, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, I’ll make you very, very happy, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, I’m as crazy as a Trump rally.”

It is the latest in a series of parodies and lampoons ridiculing Isis, including the “Allahu Akbar” video craze and these satirical skits.

Online activists also frequently alter propaganda messages and spam Isis-related Twitter trends with photoshopped images and cute animal pictures.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in