Sheffield Council stands by support of controversial Roy ‘Chubby’ Brown cancellation

The comic, whose real name is Royston Vasey, was due to perform a show at the City Hall next year but Sheffield City Trust, which runs the venue, cancelled it over concerns about racism, homophobia and sexism and said it would issue refunds.

Councillor Terry Fox, leader of the council – which is the main funder of SCT – said the authority “wholeheartedly” supported the Trust’s decision.

A petition criticising the cancellation and calling for the event to be reinstated has gathered more than 32,000 signatures to date and critics have planned a protest outside the City Hall.

Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed, leader of Sheffield Liberal Democrats, said the cancellation was a “slippery slope” and “smacks of the nanny state”.

In a full council meeting today, he asked Coun Fox if the authority was consulted on the decision and if it intends to block other comedians from performing.

In a written reply, Coun Fox said: “Sheffield City Council (SCC) was not consulted on the decision. SCC was asked to support SCT’s decision to withdraw this show from the City Hall and we gave that support. We issued a statement at the time explaining our reasons for that support.

“To reiterate; the decision to remove Roy Chubby Brown’s show from the schedule at Sheffield City Hall was made by Sheffield City Trust, an independent charity that is not controlled by Sheffield City Council. We continue to support their position because, as we said at the time, we don’t feel that the nature of the show reflects our city’s values. However, we do recognise the strength of feeling that this has stirred up and we knew that some people would be disappointed with SCT’s decision and with the council for supporting it.

“Having said that, we stand by our position in supporting SCT. As a diverse city, a City of Sanctuary, with multicultural, accepting and welcoming communities, we do not feel that a show containing homophobic, racist and sexist ‘humour’ has any place in a publicly funded venue in Sheffield.

“We are not suggesting that Roy Chubby Brown, or similar events should be banned from Sheffield, but the crucial thing here is that the City Hall is supported by council funding, therefore public money and we support and stand by the Trust’s decision. If, however, the show was to go ahead at another venue in Sheffield that wasn’t supported by council funding, that would be for the independent venue to balance with their own values.

“We understand from Sheffield City Trust that this was a historic booking made before the pandemic and subsequently re-scheduled. As we stand here today in 2021, tolerance for discrimination of any kind is not acceptable. Going forward, Sheffield City Trust has assured us that they will consider whether acts are appropriate before bookings are taken, and we encourage them to review their policies on bookings that may present views that contradict their charitable objectives; ultimately the decision lies with the Trust and the SCT Board of Trustees.”