Stephen Fry slammed for comments on political correctness and ‘ugly’ self pity

Stephen Fry has angered social media with his comments on political correctness which he has branded “infantile”.

Fry, 58, was speaking to US chat show host Dave Rubin who asked the former QI presenter if he believed “the regressive left, coming after language and free speech,” was evident in the UK.

Referring to the controversy over a Cecil Rhodes statue at Oriel College, Oxford which campaigners called to be removed on the grounds it expressed a positive message about imperialism, Fry said: “It’s started to happen in the attempted removal of statues of people who are considered unlikeable – once beloved – and have become ‘un-persons’ in a very 1984-way.”

Fry went on to criticise those who avoid “trigger words” for fear of controversy and said some people are becoming too sensitive.

“There are many great plays which contain rapes, and the word rape now is even considered a rape,” he said. “They’re terrible things and they have to be thought about, clearly, but if you say you can’t watch this play, you can’t watch Titus Andronicus, or you can’t read it in an English class, or you can’t watch Macbeth because it’s got children being killed in it, it might trigger something when you were young that upset you once, because uncle touched you in a nasty place, well I’m sorry.

“It’s a great shame and we’re all very sorry that your uncle touched you in that nasty place – you get some of my sympathy – but your self pity gets none of my sympathy.”

He added: “Self pity is the ugliest emotion in humanity. Get rid of it, because no one’s going to like you if you feel sorry for yourself. The irony is we’ll feel sorry for you, if you stop feeling sorry for yourself. Just grow up.”

But Fry – who is the president of mental health charity MIND – was met with a fierce backlash on social media with some deeming him "dangerous" and "hypocritical".

One user posted: “‘Self pity is the ugliest emotion in humanity.’ Says the man who deleted his Twitter account over being criticised for a sexist comment.”

Another wrote: “Saw that Stephen Fry was trending. Apparently he's said something about self pity! Oh, the irony!!”

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