Stephen Fry accused of making offensive jokes at Lord’s cricket dinner
Comedian allegedly made gags about women ‘shagging’, according to a complaint denied by Marylebone Cricket Club
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A formal complaint has been made about the author, actor and comedian Stephen Fry over jokes he allegedly told at a cricketing dinner at Lord’s in London.
Marylebone Cricket Club’s president said that the complaint is “incorrect” and some attendees have claimed that Fry was misheard.
Fry, who is president of Marylebone Cricket Club, allegedly cracked a joke about women “shagging” and another that linked Muslims to terrorism.
According to The Times, MCC member Chris Waterman urged the club to take disciplinary action against Fry, calling his jokes “egregious”.
Waterman claims that Fry welcomed members by saying: “I had intended to say ‘Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,’ but there are no lady members present. I suppose they are off shagging.”
He also alleged that Fry – referring to the Allahakbarries, an amateur cricket team founded by Peter Pan author JM Barrie – joked that when used today, the phrase “Allahu akbar”, meaning “God is greater” is usually “followed by a loud bang”.
These claims have been refuted by MCC and some other diners, who have insisted that the sexist joke had been misheard and that they did not hear any joke about Muslims.
Guy Lavender, chief executive and secretary of MCC, called Waterman’s account “factually incorrect”.
The Independent has contacted Fry’s representatives for comment.
Other diners reported that Fry actually said: “I had intended to say, ‘Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,’ but there are no lady members present. Now we can talk about shagging.”
They interpreted his joke as intending to mock the club for its underrepresentation of women.
In December, former QI host Fry said that he wants to go on an expletive-filled rant on GB News or TalkTV to poke holes in their “free speech” model.
He argued that, while he thought free speech was “important”, it shouldn’t be the end goal.
Speaking on the Diary of a CEO podcast, he said: “I’ve sort of wanted to go on – now, you’ll have to hold your ears – and say, ‘Hello, how are you, you old c***? It’s f***ing great to see you, you c***y, c***y, c*** c***.’ And [Piers Morgan] to go, ‘Sorry, you can’t say that.’ ‘Oh, I thought this was home of free speech, isn’t it? I thought this was the f***ing home of c***ing free speech, isn’t it?”
He previously appeared on another podcast last year, speaking about how he doesn’t want to condemn JK Rowling for her views on transgender people, despite them making his friends “deeply upset”.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments