Dapper Laughs' Glasgow gig cancelled after online petition
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Version 0 of 1. Dapper Laughs, the foul-mouthed, sexist character whose ITV2 show was scrapped after footage of him making a rape joke emerged online, has had his latest gig in Glasgow cancelled after an online petition attracted more than 1,000 signatures within 24 hours. Campus Glasgow, which had advertised the controversial act as appearing on 2 April for a “live PA, meet & greet and photo opportunity”, said in a statement: “We took on board all comments we received and realised that there was too much negativity towards the act. The most important thing for us at Campus is to ensure that the customers we entertain are happy, safe and also enjoy the entertainment we provide 365 days per year.” The venue, which describes itself as the city’s “first frat house”, tweeted on Monday afternoon that another act would be booked to replace the comedian Daniel O’Reilly, whose ITV2 show, On the Pull, was itself pulled when a petition for its cancellation attracted 68,000 signatures. Dapper Laughs, Thursday 2nd April has now been cancelled. New act to be announced. The petition was prompted by footage that emerged last November of a live show at La Scala in London, in which he described a female audience member as “gagging for a rape”. An apparently contrite O’Reilly appeared afterwards on BBC2’s Newsnight programme claiming that he was killing off his controversial alter ego. He told Emily Maitlis: “It was great at the beginning, but it has completely ruined everything for me as a comedian. It’s wrecked my life to a certain extent.” However, he recently said he was bringing the character back, and has uploaded a four-minute YouTube pilot for a sitcom called Dapper, which makes the character’s own behaviour the butt of the joke, with his manager and members of the public shown despairing at his relentlessly offensive chatter. NUS Scotland women’s officer, Vonnie Sandlan, who started the petition, welcomed the decision to cancel the gig. “Tired, misogynist tropes and rape jokes have no place in 2015 society,” she said. Sandlan added: “NUS Scotland has spent a significant amount of time over the past few years challenging the lad culture on campus that affects female students and that Dapper Laughs represents the worst of.” |