Birmingham Post

Actor tweets police over ‘let’s hang him’ message

- News Editor

BIRMINGHAM star Adil Ray, who stars in BBC comedy Citizen Khan, has contacted police after a prominent Birmingham food blogger said: “Let’s hang, draw and quarter him outside the Bullring”.

The actor and broadcaste­r dismissed suggestion­s the comment was a “light-hearted gag” and said it was “just nasty”.

Ray, currently starring in Channel 4’s Ackley Bridge drama, tweeted West Midlands Police and Twitter officials to ask : “Can we report this?”

He was responding to a tweet from the MeatOneVeg­Blog which read: “I’m hugely against the death penalty until I remember that the man who writes Citizen Khan gets paid via my TV licence direct debit. Bring it back. Let’s hang, draw and quarter him outside the Bullring.”

An apology was posted on the blog account saying: “Apologies if anyone found my earlier tweet offensive. It was a joke and meant completely in jest.”

In a later statement to the Birmingham Post, the account said: “Yesterday on Twitter, I made a joke that was in poor taste. I realised that it was in poor taste and removed it. I apologise for that tweet.

“If anyone is offended, or felt in any way genuinely threatened by that joke, then I apologise for that too. To be clear, I do not want people to hang, draw and quarter anyone outside of the Bullring.”

After the tweet was deleted, Ray messaged Twitter and police to ask : “Can we report this? I don’t fancy being hung in my city. Oh, and this isn’t a nasty.”

In a second tweet, he said: “Here’s a photo as now deleted. Please let me know what action I can take please?”

West Midlands Police responded to Ray via a direct message on Twitter.

The force told the Birmingham Post yesterday that it was aware of the exchange.

Last month, Ray, 44, revealed plans for a film spin-off of his BBC sitcom, which is set in Birmingham.

He said he wanted to take the popular character to the United States for a meeting with President Donald Trump.

Ray said the full announceme­nt would be made “very soon”. light-hearted gag, it’s just

I don’t fancy being hung in my city. Oh, and this isn’t a light-hearted gag, it’s just nasty Actor Adil Ray

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Adil Ray, far left, and as his Citizen Khan character
James.Cartledge > Adil Ray, far left, and as his Citizen Khan character

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