Reform UK Scottish leader’s George Michael joke was so offensive he donated to LGBTQ+ charity
Michael Offord made an ‘offensive’ George Michael joke (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images | Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Reform UK’s Scottish leader Malcolm Offord made a joke about the late gay icon George Michael that was so offensive that he apologised and donated to an LGBTQ+ charity.
Eyewitness Ian Lewer shared that Offord told the joke, which was at the expense of Michael’s grieving boyfriend Fadi Fawaz, while making a speech at a Burns Night event at the London Scottish rugby club in 2018.
Speaking to the Daily Record on 24 March, Lewer shared that he had been attending the event with his wife and that Offord was a chairman of the club at the time.
READ MORE: 5 times George Michael was frank, fearless and radically proud of his sexuality
“The speech itself was a bizarre attempt to link the songs of the late George Micheal to the works of Robert Burns, interspersed with clips of some of his famous hits accompanied by Offord’s questionable dancing,” Lewer said. “The fact he was clearly intoxicated added another awkward dimension to the experience.”
The Record did not publish the “joke” in “the interests of taste”.
“I was sitting next to a gay man and it was clearly an extremely uncomfortable and unpleasant experience for him,” Lewer continued.
“I’m not a prude, I’m up for banter. But there is banter and taking things to that level. I don’t know who in their right mind would say something like that. It is utterly bizarre that anyone would get up and make a speech in a room with 200 people and say something like that.”
Offord has since apologised for the “inappropriate joke” and has insisted that he is “not homophobic”, the BBC reported.
“I instantly regretted it and recognised that it was totally inappropriate and took responsibility for what I had said,” he said.
“This was a clumsy mistake that I immediately acknowledged and acted upon. I am not homophobic. I am someone who accepts accountability, owns my actions, and makes amends where needed. That is who I am.”
Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.
