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Premier League - PFA want 'offensive' comedian to return his fee
The PFA have called in their lawyers to try and get their money back from comedian Reginald D Hunter after his controversial set at their awards dinner.
Eurosport – 12 hours ago
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Hunter liberally used the 'N-word' during a set at the union's awards dinner, forcing PFA chairman Clarke Carlisle to admit that his selection for the bash was a "gross error of judgement" and "embarrassing."
And the London Speaker Bureau, who booked Hunter for the performance, have backed the PFA's stance, suggesting the comedian went back on promises over his material.
"The London Speaker Bureau," the statement read, "supports the PFA's statement in that Reginald's use of language was not what was discussed as acceptable on the briefing call with the the PFA. We regret any offence caused by the performance at The PFA Awards Ceremony."
American comedian Hunter is a popular figure on the British comedy circuit and regularly appears on British TV shows such as 'Have I Got News for You' - before the dinner the PFA had boasted that he would "bring his unique style of no nonsense comedy to the event" and it is believed that he was paid a five-figure sum.
Hunter has not made a direct comment about the subsequent fall-out from his set, although he has uploaded some pictures of his performance on Facebook, tagging it as 'Irony's Annual Night Off'.
One of the pictures, showing Hunter sipping a drink, was captioned "Reginald D Hunter washing out the dirty taste of racism with a little ginger ale".
However, the PFA deputy chief executive Bobby Barnes has now implied that the comedian was unfairly recommended to them as suitable for the gig and did not stick to his brief.
"We are in discussions with our lawyer and our lawyer is in discussion with the London Speaker Bureau, who we booked him through,” he told the Daily Telegraph.
"Whatever he was paid was too much. We are obviously very upset, because he was briefed. We are very aware that very have a very diverse audience there. I was sat there with Jewish friends on my table as well, and it was as if he set out to upset everyone in the room one way or another.
"There were anti-Jewish jokes, there were anti-women jokes, there were anti-Irish jokes, there was the repeat use of the ‘N’ word.
"If you were looking for a scenario of absolutely everything we wouldn’t want on the night, I think you had a montage there.
"This went so far over the boundary, it was totally unacceptable on every level, quite honestly."
After listening to Hunter's risqué set, Carlisle went on a media blitz to distance the PFA from Hunter and concede that booking the comedian was a mistake. He also had to explain himself to anti-racism group 'Kick It Out'.
"All that has gone on in football over the past few years, with everything that we purport to stand for, his set was inappropriate, it really was," Carlisle admitted.
"I am probably going to get hung for it. But I can’t be hypocritical. Everything that I have said and stood for over the past three years, if I sit here and say 'It’s in the name of comedy' - rubbish, I am not having that.
"Some people were really offended and we as a union should not put anybody in that position. We have our values and ethics. We shouldn’t sit people at our showpiece event of the year and put them in a position where they may well be offended and where words are used where we have actively campaigned for people to be sanctioned."
English football has been rocked by race storms in recent seasons involving the likes of John Terry, Anton and Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole and Suarez who was banned for eight games for a racist slur directed at Manchester United's Patrice Evra.
The PFA have called in their lawyers to try and get their money back from comedian Reginald D Hunter after his controversial set at their awards dinner.
Eurosport – 12 hours ago
Eurosport - Reginald D Hunter at the PFA awards
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- Premier League - PFA 'embarrassed' by awards dinner comedianEurosport - Mon, Apr 29, 2013 16:10 BST
Hunter liberally used the 'N-word' during a set at the union's awards dinner, forcing PFA chairman Clarke Carlisle to admit that his selection for the bash was a "gross error of judgement" and "embarrassing."
And the London Speaker Bureau, who booked Hunter for the performance, have backed the PFA's stance, suggesting the comedian went back on promises over his material.
"The London Speaker Bureau," the statement read, "supports the PFA's statement in that Reginald's use of language was not what was discussed as acceptable on the briefing call with the the PFA. We regret any offence caused by the performance at The PFA Awards Ceremony."
American comedian Hunter is a popular figure on the British comedy circuit and regularly appears on British TV shows such as 'Have I Got News for You' - before the dinner the PFA had boasted that he would "bring his unique style of no nonsense comedy to the event" and it is believed that he was paid a five-figure sum.
Hunter has not made a direct comment about the subsequent fall-out from his set, although he has uploaded some pictures of his performance on Facebook, tagging it as 'Irony's Annual Night Off'.
One of the pictures, showing Hunter sipping a drink, was captioned "Reginald D Hunter washing out the dirty taste of racism with a little ginger ale".
However, the PFA deputy chief executive Bobby Barnes has now implied that the comedian was unfairly recommended to them as suitable for the gig and did not stick to his brief.
"We are in discussions with our lawyer and our lawyer is in discussion with the London Speaker Bureau, who we booked him through,” he told the Daily Telegraph.
"Whatever he was paid was too much. We are obviously very upset, because he was briefed. We are very aware that very have a very diverse audience there. I was sat there with Jewish friends on my table as well, and it was as if he set out to upset everyone in the room one way or another.
"There were anti-Jewish jokes, there were anti-women jokes, there were anti-Irish jokes, there was the repeat use of the ‘N’ word.
"If you were looking for a scenario of absolutely everything we wouldn’t want on the night, I think you had a montage there.
"This went so far over the boundary, it was totally unacceptable on every level, quite honestly."
After listening to Hunter's risqué set, Carlisle went on a media blitz to distance the PFA from Hunter and concede that booking the comedian was a mistake. He also had to explain himself to anti-racism group 'Kick It Out'.
"All that has gone on in football over the past few years, with everything that we purport to stand for, his set was inappropriate, it really was," Carlisle admitted.
"I am probably going to get hung for it. But I can’t be hypocritical. Everything that I have said and stood for over the past three years, if I sit here and say 'It’s in the name of comedy' - rubbish, I am not having that.
"Some people were really offended and we as a union should not put anybody in that position. We have our values and ethics. We shouldn’t sit people at our showpiece event of the year and put them in a position where they may well be offended and where words are used where we have actively campaigned for people to be sanctioned."
English football has been rocked by race storms in recent seasons involving the likes of John Terry, Anton and Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole and Suarez who was banned for eight games for a racist slur directed at Manchester United's Patrice Evra.
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