My friend heckled at a comedy show and thinks I betrayed him by apologizing to the performer

A friend and I went to a small comedy show in the back room of a bar. We were close enough to the stage that the performers could see our table clearly. Before the show, the host asked the audience not to interrupt unless a comic invited a response.

During the third set, my friend started answering rhetorical questions. The comic asked, “Who buys a treadmill in January?” and my friend shouted, “My divorced uncle.” A few people laughed. That encouraged him.

He added two more comments. The comic handled the first and ignored the second. On the third, she stopped and said, “I promise I wrote enough material for both of us.” The room laughed, but my friend went quiet in a way that made it obvious he felt humiliated.

After the show, I saw the comic near the exit and said I was sorry our table had disrupted her set. I did not give my friend’s name or ask for anything. She said it happens and thanked me.

My friend overheard. Outside, he said I had sided with a stranger and made him look worse after the comic already embarrassed him publicly. He insists that audience interaction is part of live comedy and that she used his comments to get laughs, so the exchange worked. I said there is a difference between responding when invited and trying to join the act.

He has not spoken to me since the ride home. Another friend says I was right about the heckling but wrong to apologize on his behalf, especially within earshot. According to her, I turned a bad five minutes into a judgment on his character.

I can apologize for embarrassing him without pretending the interruption was acceptable. What I do not know is whether that distinction will sound sincere or like another correction. How would you repair the friendship while staying honest about behavior that affected the whole room?