Comedian Usama Siddiquee performed on Tuesday night’s episode of America’s Got Talent, but he didn’t exactly have everyone laughing. During his controversial set, Siddiquee joked about club music and feminism, saying that DJs can say anything as long as there is a good beat attached to it, as Entertainment Tonight noted. At one point, he tried to “prove” his point by asking judge Heidi Klum how she would respond if he called her a tramp, and he then proceeded to beatbox while saying the word. However, Klum was less than impressed by what the comedian had to say.
Much of Siddiquee’s set involved him joking about how his name resembles that of terrorist Osama bin Laden, which he said made for an awkward encounter at the airport. He then transitioned to talking about club music and feminism, as he joked that DJs can say anything, even “women shouldn’t vote” and “get back to the kitchen,” as long as there is a good beat to go along with those phrases. He then tried to explain what he meant by saying, “Heidi, if I called you a tramp, you’d say, ‘How dare you,’ right?” Siddiquee then beatboxed the word tramp and said, “You’d be like, ‘Well, I do let loose on occasion.’”
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Klum didn’t respond well to the comedian’s jokes, as she barely cracked a smile during his set. When it came time for the judges to give their reviews of the comedian’s set, their commentary was definitely mixed. “I know that this is really, really tough. In the best-case scenario, it is tough,” Howie Mandel said, regarding AGT‘s virtual set-up, which has been in place amidst the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. “And I think that you started off fantastic and I love your energy and I love your commitment. I wonder, sitting beside these two [Klum and Sofia Vergara], and I don’t know if they were giving you the right response or the response you were expecting.”
Klum then offered up her own critiques of Siddiquee’s set. She said, “What did I think? I mean, I don’t know. I guess being called a tramp probably was my least uncomfortable part of the whole thing. But that’s just me. But let’s see what America thinks!” Vergara also shared her thoughts about the set, telling the comedian, “I was laughing and then for a second I’m like, should I be not laughing? Should I feel guilty that I’m laughing? You took a very risky theme for this performance.” Siddiquee will find out whether America responded more positively to his set on Wednesday night, which is when he will find out whether or not he made it into the semi-finals portion of the competition.
