Stephen Fry Quits Twitter After Twitterati Criticize His BAFTA Joke
Renowned British comedian and actor Stephen Fry has deactivated his Twitter account after he was targeted by a large number of twits criticizing his ‘Bag Lady’ joke at BAFTA last Sunday, 14th February. The joke was made after costume designer Jenny Beavan accepted the BAFTA for costume design for ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’. Jenny appeared on the stage wearing a black leather jacket, white t-shirt, slacks and a scarf. Following which Stephen made the joke that, “Only one of the great cinematic costume designers would come to the awards dressed like a bag lady.”
Twitter exploded right after this on air joke and Twitterati took to criticizing the comedian citing feminism, bad taste and rudeness. Stephen Fry wrote in a blog article, “Even if you negotiate the sharp rocks you’ll soon feel that too many people have peed in the pool for you to want to swim there any more. The fun is over. Let us grieve at what twitter has become. A stalking ground for the sanctimoniously self-righteous who love to second-guess, to leap to conclusions and be offended — worse, to be offended on behalf of others they do not even know.”
Stephen did have his supporters though. many pointed out that Stephen and Jenny are friends and Jenny did not think ill of the comment. Jenny Beavan commented to The Telegraph that, “Yes we are friends, and I am absolutely not upset, but I don’t want to talk any further because if I talk about it it will just create more fuss.” Despite the widespread criticism, many our questioning Twitter users’ authority of moral policing.
