Australian satirist and comedian Chris Lilley has received a thirty day ban from Facebook after an indecent picture was posted on his wall by an unnamed fan.

The image, which is available on Lilley’s Twitter page, is of three teenagers sitting on a fence, one of whose testicles are exposed. It is believed that the image was a screen-shot from Lilley’s 2011 Mockumentary “Angry Boys,” in which he plays Nathan Sims, a deaf, rural Australian adolescent who surreptitiously exposes his testicles in photographs to create what his twin brother, Daniel, dubs “a sneaky nuts pic.”

Earlier this week, via Twitter, Lilley informed his fans of the suspension of his account claiming that someone had reported him to the networking site:

“Banned from Facebook cause someone reported a nuts pic. Catch me on here, instagram @chrislilley and tumblr (nuts allowed) -chrislilley.com”

In response, supporters of Lilley have begun to circulate the tag-line #freechislilleysnuts across a number of social media cites, including Facebook, in the hopes that the ban will be lifted.

Lilley, who is best known for his work on the critically acclaimed TV mini-series “Summer Heights High,” is no stranger to controversy. The actor, writer, director and producer’s form of social satire often involves the breaking of certain taboos. Most recently, Lilley was criticized for his use of black-face to portray an African American hip-hop icon, S.Mouse, in “Angry Boys.”

In the same show, Lilley also depicts a Japanese “tiger mother” with a gay son, a member of a violent surf-gang from Sydney, a sixty-five year old grandmother who works as a prison guard, as well as the delinquent and destructive South Australian twins and S. Mouse.

When asked in a 2011 interview if there was any subject that he would not broach in his comedic pursuits, Lilley had this to say: “If I thought it was funny, I don’t think I would be scared to do it. I think I’m pretty brave with putting myself out there and looking stupid and doing things that are potentially offensive, but I don’t know. I only like to write about things I know about and am interested in. Religious humor is not really my area, so I probably wouldn’t do anything about that, or politics or something. But, no, there’s no real sort of taboo thing.”

While it appears that the blame for this particular Facebook scandal cannot be placed at Lilley’s boundary-pushing doorstep, the comedian had reportedly already received several warnings in response to behavior that violated Facebook’s terms and agreements.

Image Courtesy of   Chris Lilley

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About the author

Sumi Naidoo
Sumi Naidoo is a History and English student at the University of Pennsylvania. She likes music and movies and the worst kind of TV. She has a giant stuffed owl named Bagration. Currently reporting from Melbourne, Australia.