V Festival, the UK’s Virgin Media-sponsored music festival, is being criticized this week for its all-male comedy lineup. The Independent reports that the festival’s comedy stage will feature 26 comedians, all male. After a ton of complaints, the festival responded by saying they tried to book female comedians but that “no one was available.” Last year, the event featured four female comedians; the number was zero once again in 2012. This is just one of many stories about sexism in comedy to come out of the UK so far this year, following standup Jenny Collier being bumped from a UK show because “they don’t want too many women on the bill” and the Director of BBC banning all-male panel shows in response to complaints over the male-dominated medium.
