ROD STEWART IS LATEST VICTIM ...FOR DARING TO PRAISE BORIS
HE may be one of Britain’s most successful recording artists ever, but that didn’t spare Sir Rod Stewart from being savaged on social media for breaking the first rule of Luvvies: Don’t Praise the Tories.
While anti-Brexit campaigner and Lib Dem supporter Hugh Grant and Leftie Lily Allen mourned the Conservatives’ landslide victory, Sir Rod faced a vicious backlash for having the temerity to congratulate
Boris Johnson.
The veteran singer took to Twitter to thank fans after his 10th album topped the charts, making him the oldest male solo artist to have a Number One album in the UK. He also mentioned the Election.
‘Thank you once again to my legions of fans who I will never take for granted,’ he wrote. ‘Bless you all and a Merry Christmas. Well done Robbie [Williams], well done Boris, no hard feelings Pete Townshend! – Rod xxx.’
Sir Rod, a passionate fan of Celtic who describes Scotland as his ‘spiritual home’, soon came under fire from the club’s fans, SNP supporters and non-Tory voters.
‘Well done who? Don’t come back to Celtic Park,’ Kevin C said. ‘Well done Boris? Stay away from Celtic please,’ replied
Ronan McGhee.
‘Get a grip man, thought you were Scottish!’ Jim Wright said.
The singer, who turns 75 next month and was knighted in 2016, has received countless awards, yet for some that counted for nothing in the face of his support for the Tories.
However, some did praise him and returned his wishes for a merry Christmas. ‘Rock on Sir Rod and hope you’re still rocking into the 2030s,’ Steve Riddle tweeted. And ‘Love you Roddy, you are a one-off,’ Elaine Pentecost said.
But it was all a far cry from the praise lavished on arch-remainer Hugh Grant by his social media fans during the Election (his last major award: a Bafta in
1995 for Four Weddings And A Funeral).
The actor was seen campaigning for would-be Lib Dem MPs Chuka Umunna, Luciana Berger and Monica Harding – all of whom lost.
Meanwhile Lily Allen, whose last Number One was a cover version of Somewhere Only We Know from the John Lewis 2013 Christmas advert, accused Johnson – and voters – of racism.
‘I think that racism and misogyny runs so deep in this country and that Boris won because of his attitude towards those things and not in spite of them,’ she tweeted.
When one asked if she was OK, she replied: ‘Yes, I am fine, it’s not me you should be worrying about.’ She then deleted her Twitter account.
Other high-profile celebrities who backed Labour included Jade Thirlwall of girl band Little Mix, who wore a ‘For the many, not the few’ T-shirt, and grime star Stormzy, who signed a proCorbyn letter to The Guardian.
Meanwhile former cricketer Kevin Pietersen was also criticised after he tweeted: Congrats @BorisJohnson! I know you’re with me in the saving of our wildlife.’
Pietersen is campaigning to save endangered species including lions, leopards, rhinos and elephants in his native South Africa – but critics pointed out the Prime Minister opposed the fox-hunting ban in Parliament.