Trans BBC star calls for Dame Edna creator to apologise for Jenner comments or be sacked
The star of BBC’s first trans drama has said the creator of Dame Edna should apologise for comments he made about Caitlyn Jenner or be sacked.
The comedian behind the beloved Dame Edna Everage, Barry Humphries, has attacked Caitlyn Jenner in a recent interview, as he supported close friend Germaine Greer.
The comic said he agreed with his close friend Germaine Greer – who sparked controversy recently by declaring trans women are “men who believe that they are women and have themselves castrated.”
“I agree with Germaine! You’re a mutilated man, that’s all,” Humphries told The Telegraph.
“Self-mutilation, what’s all this carry on? Caitlyn Jenner – what a publicity-seeking ratbag. It’s all given the stamp – not of respectability, but authenticity or something,” he added.
“If you criticise anything you’re racist or sexist or homophobic.”
Rebecca Root, who stars in the BBC’s drama ‘Boy Meets Girl’, said the “retrograde” comments were “resonant of the bad old days”.
Root said: “If he retracts the statement I’d say he’s said sorry, and move on. But if he does a Germaine Greer, I’d say he’s gone too far and the BBC should reconsider its position on giving him a show.”
“It’s rather disappointing for me as I’ve always liked Barry Humphries, and I’ve seen Dame Edna on stage. The fact is that this sense of humour resonates with the bad old days of Bernard Manning and Jim Davidson; dinosaurs from the 1970s. It’s very retrograde, and I hoped we’d moved on from it.”
The BBC has already said it would not sack the presenter. A spokesman said: “Barry Humphries is a freelance presenter for BBC Radio 2 and these are his personal views, which are not reflected in his radio programme.”
Greer has previously claimed that “lopping off your d**k and wearing a dress doesn’t make you a f***ing woman” and has accused Jenner of transitioning so she could steal attention from her Kardashian co-stars.
