DAVE’S LUVVIE ARMY
... but Conti says ‘luvvie’ is as bad as the N-word!
Calling actors ‘luvvies’ is as offensive as using racial slurs, Tom Conti said yesterday.
The 74-year-old star was backed by fellow stage and screen veterans Peter Egan and Dame Janet Suzman.
The three have become embroiled in an astonishing war of words with a Labour councillor after he called celebrities ‘livid luvvies’ for protesting about plans for a new supermarket in North-West London.
Shirley Valentine star Conti, who lives in a £17.5million mansion in Hampstead, told the Daily Mail that to use the word ‘luvvies’ was ‘as abusive as “yid” or “n*****” and it’s a horrible expression.
‘it’s pejorative, denigrative and demeaning. i know a number of actors and certainly the actors with whom i have mixed over my entire life have been very bright people.’
The row began after councillor Theo Blackwell wrote to his local newspaper citing the endless complaints from well-heeled residents in the area, including Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson.
He noted that they attacked plans from Tesco or Sainsbury’s but did not care about setting up ‘roadblocks’ to stop Ocado delivery drivers. Mr Blackwell also accused the same campaigners of making ‘spurious claims against the new Cycle Superhighway route’.
And he ended his letter by stating: ‘So let’s have less of the “livid luvvie” protests – not everyone locally thinks the same on all these issues.’
Responding to Mr Blackwell in a letter to the Camden New Journal, Dame Janet questioned his use of the term ‘luvvie’.
The Shakespearean actress, 77, wrote: ‘i am tempted to say less of the “apoplectic apparatchik” as an apt riposte to his rather low “livid luvvie” put down.
‘As residents, whatever our profession, we have a right to voice an opinion.’
Dame Janet and Conti were supported by Egan, most recently seen on TV in a recurring role in Downton Abbey.
The 69-year- old former Hampstead resident said: ‘if actors are voicing an opinion, in many cases a true opinion, the way to dismiss that is to downgrade them with a diminishing term for a name.
‘it was the exactly the same in Vietnam. The American troops used to call the Viet Cong “Charlie”. it’s how you degrade your enemy.
‘it’s always been regarded by actors as an insulting term. People disregard important opinion by saying, “it’s the luvvies at it again”. it’s a cheap way of scoring points. And
‘It was exactly the same in Vietnam’
i do find it offensive personally.’ Last year, Conti, Dame Janet, Miss Thompson and actor and comedian James Corden all signed a petition against plans by Tesco to move into nearby Belsize Park.
in an open letter to the supermarket chain, Miss Thompson – who lives two miles from the proposed shop – wrote: ‘Wherever Tesco’s goes, the local feeling is destroyed by staff who neither know or care to know the inhabitants.’
The campaign was successful, with Tesco ultimately abandoning the plans despite gaining approval to open from Camden Council.
Earlier this month Conti and Dame Janet were celebrating another victory after Sainsbury’s pulled out of plans to move into Belsize Park.
in response to Conti’s comments, Mr Blackwell referred to the actor’s guest star role in two episodes of US sitcom Friends.
‘Friends extra Tom Conti is well known locally for his strong opinions on a range of subjects,’ the councillor said.