'BULLYING WORKS': Comedian apologizes to Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen before Artemis II launch

CALGARY — As the world prepares for the historic Artemis II launch on Wednesday, an unusual story on social media has surfaced in the final days before liftoff.Canadian comedian Bruce Barrett took to the social platform X on March 30, posting what he described as a long-overdue apology to Canadian astronaut and Artemis mission member Jeremy Hansen — who is set to become the first non-American to travel beyond low Earth orbit.In the message addressed to Hansen, Barrett claimed he had bullied the astronaut decades earlier in a Grade 11 physics class, saying he “went too far for laughs” and expressing regret for his behaviour..“For years, I wanted to apologize to you for all the bullying in Mr. Harwood’s Grade 11 physics class I put you through,” Barrett said.“When you quit, I knew I went too far for laughs. Sorry about that. There was a cute girl that loved my jokes that sat beside me.”The comedian went on to say he never thought he would “have the chance to apologize.”“Good luck on Artemis II,” Barrett said.“Make Canada proud about something. We need it.”On March 31, Barrett posted a subsequent video on X, speaking to a live audience during a stand-up comedy routine where he recounted bullying Hansen after recognizing him from an old photo..“I saw a picture of him, and I was like, ‘Well, this is weird, right?’ He went to the same high school I went to. He’s the same age as me. I don't know if I remember this guy. It was a big high school. But then I saw a picture of him when he was eighteen,” Barrett told the audience.“I bullied him so bad in physics class that he quit. He just went out of there, you know? Now he’s going to the moon."I like to think that bullying works," Barrett joked. He told the crowd he didn’t physically harm Hansen, characterizing his actions at the time as verbal and attempts at humour.“He made something of himself, and this is probably Canada's biggest contribution to the space agency since we built the Canadarm,” Barrett said.“So when he goes to the moon, that Canadarm's just gonna give him the full elbows up salute.”Hansen has not yet publicly responded to Barrett’s posts.NASA’s ten-day Artemis II lunar mission will send four astronauts around the moon aboard the Orion capsule and is scheduled for liftoff on Wednesday at 6:24 p.m. EST.

'BULLYING WORKS': Comedian apologizes to Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen before Artemis II launch

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