Comedian’s Manchester gig cancelled after string of racist tweets about England players

A comedian who posted a string of racist tweets following the Euros 2020 final on Sunday night has had his gig cancelled at a Manchester venue. 

Players Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were all targeted on social media after missing their penalties in England’s defeat in the Euros 2020 final. The Marcus Rashford mural in Withington was also defaced in the hour after the loss, though it has since been adorned with flowers and messages of love and support from locals. 

After the sickening reaction to England’s defeat, there have been overwhelming calls for the racists targeting the football players to be held accountable for their actions – a petition urging the FA to dish out lifelong bans to the perpetrators has even surpassed a million signatures, while Boris Johnson yesterday confirmed online racists would be banned from matches.

And, as the calls have continued to intensify, a number of the perpetrators behind the sickening tweets have been identified and apprehended.

One of those was Andrew Lawrence – the forty-four year old comedian wrote a series of Tweets within the hour of England’s loss. The first tweet on his now-deleted account read: “All I’m saying is, the white guys scored.”

Another post said: “Equality, diversity, s*** penalties.” A tweet which appeared to be aimed at Rashford, who has campaigned non-stop to end child hunger in the UK, then read: “I’d rather he’d practiced his penalties, and the kids had gone hungry.” 

A fifth and final post then read: “I can see that this has offended a lot of people, and I’m sorry that black guys are bad at penalties.”

Following the tweets,  Andrew was hastily dropped by his agent RBM Comedy, who simply wrote on the platform: “RBM no longer represent Andrew Lawrence.”

And now, just when things seemingly couldn’t get any worse for Andrew, his shows have gradually been getting called off – his Manchester one leading the way – with the entire tour now cancelled.

The entertainer was due to perform at the Stoller Hall near Manchester Victoria this October, along with eight shows across the UK, the Mirror reports. But the venue has now pulled Andrew from its schedule, saying it looks forward to welcoming performers who ‘share its inclusive values.’

A statement from Manchester’s Stoller Hall says: “The Stoller Hall promotes equality, diversity and inclusion… Following his [Andrew’s] comments on social media after the Euro 2021 final his scheduled performance will no longer take place. Instead, we’re looking forward to welcoming musicians and performing artists who share our inclusive values.”