Stephen Fry Under Heavy Fire For Comments On Political Correctness, ‘Self-Pity,’ And Child Abuse


British comedian and former QI host Stephen Fry came under heavy social media fire this morning, two months after his rather public exit from Twitter over a comment called, variably, “gross”, “horrid,” and “misogynistic,” — as previously reported by the Inquisitr.

Please note that this report will contain some triggering language, particularly on the subjects of rape and sexual abuse.

And while Stephen Fry hasn’t returned to Twitter, his name certainly has this morning after some rather questionable comments made to American talk show host Dave Rubin on his show, The Rubin Report.

Rubin, a 'political satirist', is known for attacking political correctness and espousing absolute free speech.
Rubin, a ‘political satirist’, is known for attacking political correctness and espousing absolute free speech. [Photo by Araya Diaz/Getty Images for The Young Turks]
According to a report from the Evening Standard, Fry’s comments (egged on by Rubin) targeted safe spaces, “trigger words,” particularly sensitivity over the word “rape,” a tirade about “self-pity,” and what he termed the “deep infantilism” of today’s society and, most damning, disparaging comments made about survivors of child sex abuse.

“There are many great plays which contain rapes, and the word rape now is even considered a rape. They’re terrible things and they have to be thought about, clearly, but if you say you can’t watch this play, you can’t watch Titus Andronicus, or you can’t read it in an English class, or you can’t watch Macbeth because it’s got children being killed in it, it might trigger something when you were young that upset you once, because uncle touched you in a nasty place, well I’m sorry.

It’s a great shame and we’re all very sorry that your uncle touched you in that nasty place — you get some of my sympathy — but your self pity gets none of my sympathy.”

Fry seems to have had some trouble controlling his reactions lately.
Fry seems to have had some trouble controlling his reactions lately. [Photo by Tristan Fewings/Getty Images]
The tirade began when Ruben asked Stephen Fry if “the regressive left, coming after language and free speech” had made its way to the United Kingdom. This triggered a rant from Fry which not only demonstrated his complete lack of understanding of why trigger words and safe spaces exist in the first place (primarily for mental health reasons), but also his hypocrisy and apparent lack of sympathy for anyone who isn’t Stephen Fry — while the merit of many of his comments could be debated, it would be very hard to argue that his opinion that the victims of childhood sex abuse aren’t entitled to their emotions regarding their abuse are anything but horrible.

As the Mirror is reporting, Twitter has hastened to point out that Stephen Fry is a poster child for self-pity and being upset by the words of others, given that he deleted his Twitter account over criticism. Many others noted that as president of the mental health charity, MIND, Fry ought to be far more aware of the effects of PTSD and other trauma-related mental health disorders and that triggering subjects can actually be dangerous to the mental health of an individual suffering from them. Many called for his removal from his position with MIND.

Others leapt to Fry’s defense, citing “free speech” and “censorship,” rallying cries that have become common among a certain segment of social media whenever a celebrity is called out for inappropriate remarks.

“In terms of how they think, they can’t bear complexity. The ideas that things aren’t easy to understand. They want to be told, or they want to be able to decide and say, this is good, and this is bad, and anything that conflicts with that is not to be borne.”

“Self pity is the ugliest emotion in humanity,” said Fry. “Get rid of it, because no one’s going to like you if you feel sorry for yourself. The irony is we’ll feel sorry for you, if you stop feeling sorry for yourself. Grow up.”

Perhaps he should start by attempting to take his own advice before criticizing others.

[Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images]

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