Comedians often deliver provocative and eyebrow-raising material, but when one comes up with an obviously racist “joke” they should expect unrelenting fury not guffaws.
Right-wing comic Andrew Lawrence clearly doesn’t mind causing profound offence, however, as his tweets in the wake of England’s Euro 2020 defeat horifyingly reveal.
The 41-year-old standup posted a series of abhorrent messages after the Three Lions lost the longed-for cup to rivals Italy in a gut-wrenching penalty shoot-out.
Marcus Rashford, 23, Jadon Sancho, 21, and Bukayo Saka, 19, all stepped up at the crucial moment but were unsuccessful in their shots on goal.
Lawrence responded by writing on Twitter: “All I’m saying is, the white guys scored” – in reference to captain Harry Kane, 27, and seasoned centre-back Harry Maguire, 28, who both netted the ball.
Then, rather than apologise following a swift backlash to his comments, Lawrence wrote in a separate post: “I can see that this has offended a lot of people, and I’m sorry that black guys are bad at penalties.”
Referring to Rashford and his free school meals’ campaign, he then added: “I’d rather he practiced his penalties, and the kids had gone hungry.”
He topped it all off with: “Equality, diversity, s*** penalties.”
His account has since been deleted but screen grabs of his messages have been widely shared across the platform. Fellow comics and public figures were quick to voice their horror at his posts, and his own agent dropped him as a client.
He no longer appears on the RBM Comedy website, and the agency tweeted in light of the fallout:
RBM no longer represent Andrew Lawrence.
— RBM Comedy (@RBMComedy) July 12, 2021
Their blunt statement came after a number of comedy venues cancelled shows he had booked with them.
Here’s just a handful of those who axed his act:
I know you won’t particularly care, but we at Chesham comedy club will not tolerate racism in any form so please consider your booking with us cancelled.
— Cheshamcomedyclub (@Cheshamcomedy) July 12, 2021
Following the racist comments made by comedian Andrew Lawrence on Twitter we made the decision to cancel his show. As a part of learning disability charity Minstead Trust, we work hard to promote inclusivity, provide safe spaces for everyone and have zero tolerance for racism. pic.twitter.com/5SE06iIjRF
— Hanger Farm Arts Centre (@HangerFarmArts) July 12, 2021
cheer yourself up this Monday by playing the "tick off the dates as venues tell Andrew Lawrence they don't want him performing there" game pic.twitter.com/opClIhColV
— 959 "hacked" racists (@john3ners) July 12, 2021
‼️Following recent tweets from Andrew Lawrence's account we have stopped selling tickets for his show and removed from our website. Worcester Live do not support hate speech in any form and we are currently liaising with Andrew's agent. We will be in touch ASAP with an outcome ‼️
— Worcester Live (@worcester_live) July 12, 2021
And here’s what other commentators have said about his behaviour:
Andrew lawrence is a right-wing former comedian who opposes political correctness in the name of free speech.
— Femi (@Femi_Sorry) July 12, 2021
It took him less than 5 minutes to block me for saying this.
They don't want open dialogue. They just want to say racist stuff without consequences. #SayNoToRacism pic.twitter.com/AmlaWVFXgf
It would appear as though Andrew Lawrence has deleted his account.... like his career.
— Mark Hebden 💙 (@unionlib) July 12, 2021
It's like Andrew Lawrence looked at Lee Hurst's career trajectory and went: "hold my beer!" pic.twitter.com/JbhaFL3G9I
— Otto English (@Otto_English) July 12, 2021
I see Andrew Lawrence has made the decision to cancel himself. Edgy stuff!
— Sooz Kempner (@SoozUK) July 12, 2021
Really wish I could go back in time to 5 minutes ago and advise myself that it’s better to be forever curious than to know the answer to the question ‘who is Andrew Lawrence?’.
— Natasha Devon 🌈💙 (@_NatashaDevon) July 12, 2021
Andrew Lawrence. Another 'comedian' who couldn't read the room if the words were spelt out to him phonetically.
— Jack Caramac 💙 (@JCaramac) July 12, 2021
I’m glad to say I’d never heard of Andrew Lawrence before today. I hope I never hear about him again.
— Paul Bernal (@PaulbernalUK) July 12, 2021
Seeing as Andrew Lawrence has decided to end his career by being a massive racist on here, I've put an end date on his career on Wikipedia. Felt good. pic.twitter.com/ixKCfaYQQF
— Grizza Rizza (@IamGregP) July 12, 2021
I think the most surprising thing about venues cancelling Andrew Lawrence gigs in the wake of his racist comments today is the fact venues were still booking Andrew Lawrence despite his previous racist and sexist comments.
— Mark Grimshaw (@markgrimshaw16) July 12, 2021
Despite the sudden disappearance of his Twitter account Lawrence has continued to make use of his Facebook, posting a video titled ‘Endemic racism in English football, a view from academia’.
The clip was shared to his page at around midday on Monday and sees him mimicking a posh-voiced university professor offering an analyisis of Sunday’s match.
In it, he says: “After the FA and England team chose to make an ostentatious display of taking the knee in support of Black Lives Matter at the start of every match in this tournament, it was somewhat unfortunate that the three players to miss a penalty in the final of the competition were themselves black. Why did they miss their penalties? Because of racism.”
We could go on and quote more from his sketch, but frankly his continued mockery of the brave young sportsmen makes us feel physically sick.
Lawrence has made a career out of attacking “woke libtards” since penning a notorious social media post several years ago calling immigration an “unmitigated disaster of immigration”, Chortle reports.
In a lengthy social media tirade back in 2014, he also lambasted panel shows for using “ethnic comedians and women-posing-as-comedians” and “taking a supercilious, moralising tone, pandering to the ever-creeping militant political correctness of the BBC with their frankly surreal diversity targets.”
Despite this, he has won a number of awards over the years, including the BBC’s New Comedy Award winner in 2004, and the Chortle Award for Best UK Headline Act in 2010.
He has also appeared on several TV and radio programmes, including ‘Live at the Apollo’ in 2011, BBC 1’s Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow in 2010, and Channel 4’s Stand Up for the Week. And although the accolades have dried up somewhat since his 2014 outburst, he also enjoyed his own BBC Radio 4 Sitcome titled ‘There is No Escape’ in 2015.
Indy100 has contacted RBM Comedy for comment on its former client.
