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Comedy

22nd Mar 2021

Comedian Lee Hurst suspended from Twitter after making grim joke about Greta Thunberg

Claudia McInerney

His followers branded his tweet as “creepy” and “disrespectful”

The comedian Lee Hurst has been suspended from Twitter after he used the social media platform to make a vile joke about 18-year-old environmental activist, Greta Thunberg.

The 57-year-old stand up comedian, who is best known for his role as a panelist on the BBC’s They Think It’s All Over more than 20 years ago, has since made it clear that does not regret making the vulgar joke about the young activist.

In the tweet, Lee said: “As soon as Greta discovers c***, she’ll stop complaining about the single use plastic it’s wrapped in.”

His tweet was reported by users and the comedian was subsequently suspended.

Many users were horrified by Hurst’s joke, with one tweeting: “She was a child up until she turned 18 in January.

“What a sad pathetic creature you are. Total scumbag!”

Another said: “Easy to see why you aren’t on TV anymore, you really aren’t funny!”

Hurst then mocked his followers for their response to his Tweet.

Several of his followers were outraged by this later tweet.

One replied saying: “Mate, you tried to make weird sex jokes about a teenage girl. Wind your neck in and find another job because comedy isn’t working out for you.”

The presenter Jeremy Vine embodied many of our feelings, when he said on Twitter: “I really wish I hadn’t looked to see why Lee Hurst is trending.”

We would say ‘stick to the day job’ but he is a comedian. So maybe the message instead is: find a new career mate.