APOLOGY OVER COMEDIAN’S ACT AT PFA GIG

THE Professional Footballers’ Association have apologised after a comedian made jokes about Jews and a gag about lesbian porn at the union’s annual Manchester lunch on Friday.

North London stand-up Ian Stone, who has appeared on shows such as Mock the Week, triggered complaints following his set at the Old Trafford cricket ground.

‘It just wasn’t funny and people were amazed,’ one insider said. ‘The comedian may himself be Jewish but that does not make it OK. It was like going back in time — a seriously bad look. People could not believe what they were listening to.’

The PFA told Agenda that the content ‘was inappropriate and does not reflect our values or represent what we stand for as an organisation’.

They added that they would be ‘reviewing the arrangement of the lunches and guest speaker bookings and changing the format of the events’ and offered a ‘full and sincere apology to guests for the offence caused’.

Stone, however, launched a robust defence of his set, telling Agenda he was ‘genuinely surprised’ at the complaints and saying the gig had gone well, with the ‘vast majority of the 800 people enjoying it’ and that he had never previously received a complaint about the lesbian porn gag.

He added: ‘I’m Jewish. I’m talking about my lived experience. I presume I’m allowed to talk about being a Jew. I don’t set out to offend people but sometimes people take offence.’