Newcastle councilor calls for ‘Chubby’ Brown ban.
A Newcastle councilor has called for Roy ‘Chubby’ Brown to be banned from performing at Newcastle City Hall next month.
Newcastle Council leader Nick Forbes, who represents Westgate Ward (which includes Newcastle City Centre), took issue with ‘Chubby’ Brown – real name Royston Vasey – after a performance at the council-owned venue back in 2005.
At the time, Forbes told the Evening Chronicle: “My view is, given the nature of his material, it would be inappropriate for the council to make any further bookings and I’m vehemently opposed to the comedian performing at the venue.”
However in a statement released today he said: “Back then I said that it would be inappropriate for the council to make any further bookings of Roy ‘Chubby’ Brown. Today, I stand by that and still believe it would be inappropriate. Personally, I find his brand of humour highly offensive and would never ever consider attending one of his performances.
“Roy ‘Chubby’ Brown says some pretty vile things about religion, race and so on, so I have requested that any members of staff at the City Hall who could be offended by his material are not required to work on the night.”
David Faulkner, leader of the council’s Lib Dem opposition, said: “Our view had been that however unpleasant and offensive ‘Chubby’ Brown’s humour might be, it is up to the public, who are warned what to expect, to decide for themselves whether they should go or not, and it is also a breach of his rights as a performer to ban him.
“We also wondered why target ‘Chubby’ Brown when comedians such as Jimmy Carr and Frankie Boyle make remarks that many consider offensive about disability and other issues. It’s a slippery slope to start banning people.”
In an interview with editor Andrew Dipper, Vasey told Giggle Beats: “My act is adult humour for adult people. My crowd want jokes they can go to the pub and tell their mates about. I don’t make jokes about paedophiles because I think it’s disgusting, I don’t crack jokes about children in general, I very rarely joke about religion because I don’t train my mind to go that way.”
The decision to let the Vasey perform at the City Hall will be discussed on Wednesday 1st February at a council meeting.
Given the foundation of any art is based on freedom of expression, do you think offensive comedy should be banned? Let us know your views by leaving a comment below.
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http://www.tombeasley.co.uk/ Tom Beasley
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