Alistair Stewart sacked by ITV

[IanMcL]

Quoted Shakespeaee to a Tweeter. Tweeter took it as racist.
Gonner.

[thatdberight]

Quoted Shakespeaee to a Tweeter. Tweeter took it as racist.
Gonner.

Knowing who Shakespeare is pretty much a stamp of white privilege anyway so obviously he should go.

[IanMcL]

The Tweeter knew the quote too!

[Spike]

The world has gone mad!

[bfcjg]

Sounds like it was much ado about nothing.

[Bin Ont Turf]

His own stupid fault for being on Twitter.

But then again wokeists do rule social media.

[Bin Ont Turf]

white privilege

*Cringe*

[tiger76]

The reasons for his sacking seem very vague,but if he was merely quoting the bard,this seems OTT to me without knowing the context,we'll have to see if any further details emerge.

[dsr]

"“But man, proud man, Dress'd in a little brief authority Most ignorant of what he's most assur'd - His glassy essence—like an angry ape Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven

"As makes the angels weep; who, with our spleens, Would all themselves laugh mortal.”

The black man who he was conversing with automatically assumed that he was the ape referred to by Shakespeare - though I suspect Alistair Stewart, unlike said black man, does not automatically equate black men and apes. This politically correct stuff is a minefield for people who want to treat black people just as people like everyone else, as opposed to a separate, distinct race.

[Zlatan]

The reasons for his sacking seem very vague,but if he was merely quoting the bard,this seems OTT to me without knowing the context,we'll have to see if any further details emerge.

this... oh and the fact that he’s older and from another generation. i’m certain he’s been hung out to dry...

[IanMcL]

The phrase contained the word ape. That is what the Tweeter found to be racist.

Would it be racist if a black Tweeter sent it to a white tweeter?

There was a black woman on TV having a go at the actor chap Laurence Fox. She Tweeted, "White folks need to understand racism"
Isn't that racist?

[Bosscat]

The reasons for his sacking seem very vague,but if he was merely quoting the bard,this seems OTT to me without knowing the context,we'll have to see if any further details emerge.

Plenty on tinterweb about it ....

[Zlatan]

"“But man, proud man, Dress'd in a little brief authority Most ignorant of what he's most assur'd - His glassy essence—like an angry ape Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven

"As makes the angels weep; who, with our spleens, Would all themselves laugh mortal.”

The black man who he was conversing with automatically assumed that he was the ape referred to by Shakespeare - though I suspect Alistair Stewart, unlike said black man, does not automatically equate black men and apes. This politically correct stuff is a minefield for people who want to treat black people just as people like everyone else, as opposed to a separate, distinct race.

thanks dsr, it’s terrible that we can no longer quote Shakespeare at all

[Blackrod]

I suppose we don’t know the context. Hopefully not another case of looking to be offended by something which ultimately doesn’t help the cause. It’s all getting a bit Monty Python like. Look look they’ve said it ...racist and finger pointing.

[welsbyswife]

The obvious irony is that stuff and nonsense like this actually plays into the hands of genuine racists and bigots because they use it to stoke up more moderate folk who despair at political correctness. If everything becomes censored to such a ridiculous degree there will eventually be a backlash, one could say there already has been in the form of Trump and Johnson.

[Buxtonclaret]

Down, down, down the rabbit hole we go...
Soon be able to say bugger all.

[fidelcastro]

Of course, if you say you're English these days, they'll arrest you and throw you in jail, won't they?

[claretandy]

Extreme wokeness claims another victim.

[claretblue]

Soon be able to say bugger all.

I take exception to that Buxton!

...you should be suspended at once!

[TheFamilyCat]

Fairly common with stories like this that everyone gets angry but nobody provides a link.

Just done a quick search and couldn't see any site reporting that he was "sacked".

[Greenmile]

The obvious irony is that stuff and nonsense like this actually plays into the hands of genuine racists and bigots...

Yep. That much is evident from this thread and many others like it in recent times.

Here’s an interesting article which touches on this issue.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... urence-fox

[welsbyswife]

Good article that. Pretty much sums up where we are.

[Corky]

The obvious irony is that stuff and nonsense like this actually plays into the hands of genuine racists and bigots because they use it to stoke up more moderate folk who despair at political correctness. If everything becomes censored to such a ridiculous degree there will eventually be a backlash, one could say there already has been in the form of Trump and Johnson.

The above..word for word, spot on.

[thatdberight]

Fairly common with stories like this that everyone gets angry but nobody provides a link.

Just done a quick search and couldn't see any site reporting that he was "sacked".

Yes. The technicalities of whether he was sacked or whether ITV left the pistol on the table for him is definitely the issue here.

[Socrates]

These days, if you even say you’re English you get arrested and thrown in jail.

[Bordeauxclaret]

The story seems quite vague at the moment but if it is because of the Shakespeare tweet it’s absolutely ridiculous.

[Hopey1786]

The world and specifically britain is full of *****

[Damo]

The person who accused him of racism has already been outed as a serial race baiter and racist on twitter.
It seems ITV didnt do any investigating before swinging the axe

[AlargeClaret]

This is just pitiful and genuinely sad that a career and reputation can be ruined by someone choosing to be offended in the most preposterous way. Regarding Shapland behaviour ,personally I think his acts cause general offence and every man should beat thee. Then again I could be arrested for inciting violence via Shakespeare .

[ClaretAndJew]

Here's some context

https://twitter.com/katemaltby/status/1 ... 72997?s=21

[thatdberight]

Here's some context

https://twitter.com/katemaltby/status/1 ... 72997?s=21

And there's more context available on Twitter where some of the offendee's repeated knee-jerk "everybody's a racist" tweets are highlighted.

[ClaretAndJew]

And there's more context available on Twitter where some of the offendee's repeated knee-jerk "everybody's a racist" tweets are highlighted.

Good.

I'm not in any camp, I'm just saying there's more to it than one quoted piece of Shakespeare.

The lines are becoming more and more blurred.

[Stayingup]

All in all we are a most welcoming nation to immigrants from many places. Much more so than in other parts of the world where I have been. But do we really need to have to re-write every classic and other text to include these people and if we don't be accused of racism? The BBC are the leaders in this. But their wokeism and right on Liberalism is now being seriously questioned.

[thatdberight]

Good.

I'm not in any camp, I'm just saying there's more to it than one quoted piece of Shakespeare.

The lines are becoming more and more blurred.

Nor me. And "blue tick" Twitter users are in a bind. It's a cesspit on socio-political issues with relentless abuse hurled on all sides. But they engage with those people at their peril because they'll be "punching down" if they respond in kind.

Stewart is, it seems, also guilty of calling someone a "prick". Does that disbar him from reading the news? If every public figure was sacked because of that sort of language on Twitter, there'd be nobody left.

[MrTopTier]

The lexicon of Shakespeare’s work is extremely vast. He could have used thousands of other words or quotes, but chose this one. Similar to the Danny Baker incident who could have chosen literally any other cartoon.
No surprise therefore in the outcome.

[thatdberight]

The lexicon of Shakespeare’s work is extremely vast. He could have used thousands of other words or quotes, but chose this one. Similar to the Danny Baker incident who could have chosen literally any other cartoon.
No surprise therefore in the outcome.

He seems to have used it before on Twitter to make the same point to a white user.

Baker, since you introduce him, couldn't have used any other cartoon. It would be hard to make an allusion to chimps without using a chimp.

[Guitargeorge]

This could be the Shaming of the Stew

[claptrappers_union]

Twitter - the worst thing to come out of the 21st Century

[Devils_Advocate]

Twitter - the worst thing to come out of the 21st Century

Twitter is a great platform and easily the best in terms of social media. Like anywhere you just have to avoid/ignore the extreme d*ckheads a bit like you do on any other social media platform including this one here

[SalisburyClaret]

If you’re in the public eye, you need to use a professional PR company to manage your posts.

It is that simple

[CombatClaret]

This board doth protest too much, meethinks

[thatdberight]

This board doth protest too much, meethinks

Well, if you're starting "Clarets in Shakespeare quotes"...

Frailty, thy name is Guðmundsson.

[Stayingup]

I wonder if he'd have gone if he'd referred to 'A Chink in the Armour' or a 'Nip in the air'. I doubt it.

[claptrappers_union]

Twitter is a great platform and easily the best in terms of social media. Like anywhere you just have to avoid/ignore the extreme d*ckheads a bit like you do on any other social media platform including this one here

But for that reason, that why it's awful. Dickheads can't be ignored these days

[Devils_Advocate]

But for that reason, that why it's awful. Dickheads can't be ignored these days

On Twitter they easily can. Unless I go looking then all the d*ckheads who use Twitter to abuse people and just basically spread their vile views will not come anywhere near my screen. Any that do appear commenting on the more mainstream accounts/threads quickly get taken apart and shown up to be the sc*m they are.

I follow all sorts of people with all different viewpoints and love that there is really intelligent debate and loads of detailed and fact checked info shared openly to be discussed.

Anybody who is credible with any kind of following will get really held to account on their views and info they share which again is not something you widely see on other news platforms. In a world where disinformation is growing and care for honesty and truthfulness diminishing Twitter remains one area where people cant just get away with sharing lies and bullsh*t with no accountability or comeback

[Foshiznik]

Twitter - the worst thing to come out of the 21st Century

Well, that might be a bit much.

Austerity, Sudanese conflict and genocide in Darfur, Actions against the Rohingya people and The European migrant crisis all rank above twitter as the worst thing to come out of the 21st Century in my opinion...

Probably quite a few other things i didn't list that are worse than Twitter.

[Damo]

On Twitter they easily can. Unless I go looking then all the d*ckheads who use Twitter to abuse people and just basically spread their vile views will not come anywhere near my screen. Any that do appear commenting on the more mainstream accounts/threads quickly get taken apart and shown up to be the sc*m they are.

I follow all sorts of people with all different viewpoints and love that there is really intelligent debate and loads of detailed and fact checked info shared openly to be discussed.

Anybody who is credible with any kind of following will get really held to account on their views and info they share which again is not something you widely see on other news platforms. In a world where disinformation is growing and care for honesty and truthfulness diminishing Twitter remains one area where people cant just get away with sharing lies and bullsh*t with no accountability or comeback

You see plenty off bulls**t on twitter.
In fact you regularly see it trending if it's about Brexit, Johnson or Trump.
I suppose if you are left leaning, and you like having your views reaffirmed by like minded people, then twitter is an excellent platform.
It's also a great place to go if you want to take offence at something that isnt offensive
To me, it's a good source of football/boxing news. And a place where people with far too much time on their hands go to get attention.
Like this forum, I take it with an enormous pinch of salt

[Funkydrummer]

It's a good job he didn't quote from Richard The Turd.

[Rileybobs]

Firstly, we don't know whether he was sacked or not. None of the reports I've seen say he was sacked, yet that is the misleading title of this thread.

Secondly, if he was disciplined by ITV then we don't know whether it was for the Shakespeare quote or for the numerous other tweets which have since been deleted. They could have contained inappropriate content or been seen to bring ITV into disrepute.

If he was sacked for using the Shakespeare quote then that is disgraceful - however we don't know if that is the case.

[dsr]

Well, that might be a bit much.

Austerity, Sudanese conflict and genocide in Darfur, Actions against the Rohingya people and The European migrant crisis all rank above twitter as the worst thing to come out of the 21st Century in my opinion...

Probably quite a few other things i didn't list that are worse than Twitter.

Facebook, perhaps?