Al Porter

Al Porter (born Alan Kavanagh, 6 January 1993) is an Irish comedian, actor, and radio personality.

Career

Acting

Porter has been acting since he was 10 years old, and has been the headline attraction in the annual Christmas Pantomime in the Olympia Theatre in Dublin since he was in his early 20s.

Comedy

By the time he was 22 he was also able to sell out Dublin comedy venue Vicar Street for 3 nights as the headline act.

In August 2016, while performing at the Edinburgh Festival he was mistakenly described as a "former panto star" by The Guardian. Despite that error The Guardian conceded "the sheer thrill, frankly, of encountering such a steamroller crowd-pleasing talent." the same routine was described by The London Standard as "superslick stand-up". He is currently working again as a comedian after a hiatus caused by allegations of sexual misconduct.

Radio host

In 2017, it was announced that Porter would be joining Today FM and taking over the 12pm-2:30pm slot previously held by Dermot and Dave with Porter's show debuting on Monday 13 February 2017.

Television presenting

On 8 October 2017, Porter presented the new series of ''Blind Date'' on TV3.

Sexual misconduct allegations

In July 2017, Porter revealed on a podcast that he had been accused of sexual assault by three male classmates in secondary school. On 18 November 2017 the '' Metro'' and the Irish edition of ''The Times'' reported that Porter has been subject to four allegations from people within the comedy industry of sexual misconduct. On the same day his radio employer Today FM released a statement saying that they had spoken with Porter and his management team concerning the allegations. Later that day a spokesperson for Porter said he has agreed to "take some personal time from his lunchtime radio show."

The following day Porter revealed that he resigned from Today FM, with immediate effect, and that he was "completely taken aback by reports in the media". He also expressed his gratitude to Today FM, the Olympia Panto and TV3 for granting him “the space and time” to deal with the situation.

Porter was accused of sexually assaulting a patient at St Patrick's University Hospital during an October 2015 visit, though two investigations revealed no evidence of sexual assault, Porter released a statement expressing that he was pleased with the findings. The Gardaí investigated an alleged sexual assault against a male in his late teens in 2016. In November 2019, this charge was dropped.

Obstructing arrest

On October 6, 2019, Al Porter was arrested in the early morning for obstructing an arrest on Camden Street. A group of young men began shouting at Gardaí on patrol in Wexford Street. Gardaí stopped the men and were arresting one of them when Porter intervened saying "No" and "he did not think he should be arrested". He was arrested for "interfering with the arrest". His defence council said that he was "trying to be the peacemaker" and that it was "a momentary aberration". He pleaded guilty to obstructing arrest and Judge Flann Brennan said that in mitigation the defendant pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and he was very apologetic. He also noted that the defendant had no prior convictions and had not come to further Garda attention. He warned Porter “Mr Kavanagh, don’t do anything as foolish as this again, mind your own business in future”. He also said "I will find the facts proven and dismiss. This is the only time I will give you a chance”. Al Porter thanked the judge and left the court.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Porter, Al
1993 births
Irish male comedians
Irish gay actors
Gay comedians
Living people
21st-century LGBT people