Disgraced MP Jared O’Mara blames Eminem for calling gay people ‘fudge packers’
Jared O’Mara and Eminem (Kevin Winter/Getty)
Controversial MP Jared O’Mara has blamed an “Eminem record” for comments he made calling gay people “fudge packers” and “poofters.”
During a Westminster Hall debate held on Monday (October 22) on the topic Autism and Learning Disability Training: Healthcare Professionals, O’Mara denied that he was homophobic.
O’Mara became the Labour MP for Sheffield Hallam last June when he defeated former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, but was suspended by his party just months later, after it was revealed he had posted a string of anti-LGBT messages online between 2002 and 2004. He then quit Labour earlier this year, just days after being reinstated to the party.
Jared O’Mara (Parliament)
The MP—who has previously blamed “lad culture” for his remarks—has now laid the fault for his remarks at the feet of US rapper Eminem, who has often come under for his anti-gay lyrics.
During the debate, O’Mara said that after his comments were made public last year, “people were bullying me over things that I did not understand when I was 20 or 22. They made false accusations of sexism and homophobia.”
O’Mara continued: “They did not listen to the interviews I had done. They did not listen to me talk about how I am an intersectional feminist and about equality.
O’Mara has previously blamed “lad culture” for his remarks
“They did not listen to me when I said that my local pub, where I have been going all the time for 12 years, is a gay bar,” added the MP, who is now 36.
“I used homophobic words, but they were the words of the time; they were on the Eminem record that I listened to at the time.”
He added that the comments, which he posted on a fansite for Smiths singer Morrissey, were part of an attempt by him to “fit in and not get bullied.”
“They were the words of the time; they were on the Eminem record that I listened to at the time” (Theo Wargo/Getty)
The messages, some of which were written when O’Mara was a Labour candidate for the Sheffield council, also contained an allusion to anal sex as “driving up the Marmite motorway” and called jazz musician Jamie Cullum a “conceited c**t” who should be “sodomised with his own piano.”
They were condemned by out Conservatives MP Justine Greening, who said they showed “the deep and persistent stain on Labour’s ability to represent women, the LGBT+ community and wider society.”
Eminem has often come under fire for his use of homophobic language in songs (Dave J Hogan/Getty)
In O’Mara’s statement revealing that he was leaving Labour in July, he said that despite being allowed back into the party, he felt he had “not been listened to or been given a fair investigation as I do not believe they considered my supporting evidence or got in touch with my witnesses.
“Furthermore, I am of the opinion that the Labour Party no longer shares my commitment to the true definition of equality and compassion,” continued O’Mara.
“I didn’t commit any crimes, yet I have been made unfairly to feel like a criminal.”
He added: “There is no doubt that I made mistakes as a young man using distasteful language as a clumsy attempt at satire and sarcasm online. But that does not mean that is who I am today.”
