More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
A Kent theatre has cancelled a comedian's upcoming gig after he made racist comments following England's penalty heartbreak.
Andrew Lawrence, who is known for his right wing attempts at humour, took to Twitter to inform his followers: "All I'm saying is the white guys scored".
Gareth Southgate's side were level against Italy after extra time in last night's Euro 2020 final but lost 3-2 on penalties, with Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka missing.
Lawrence followed up his initial 'joke' with: "I can see that this has offended a lot of people, and I'm sorry that black guys are bad at penalties."
The 41-year-old's vile remarks were immediately condemned, with several venues cancelling upcoming shows and his agent dropping him. His Twitter account has since been deleted.
He was due to play the Hazlitt, Maidstone, in October but Parkwood Theatres, which runs the venue, has now cancelled the show.
A statement from the company read: "Andrew Lawrence has used social media platforms to express remarks that do not reflect the values of Parkwood Theatres. We have taken steps to cancel his performance (Oct' 21). All customers will be contacted by our box office in order for them to receive a full refund."
Lawrence was slammed for his remarks.
Political activist Femi Oluwole said: "You've been circling the drain for a while now. I'm almost grateful you finally took the plunge so now everyone sees what you are.
"I'm embarrassed I liked your comedy. I don't know if you've always been like this or if 'mascot for racists' was a last minute career shift."
Ironically Lawrence, a fierce defender of free speech, then blocked Oluwole.
Journalist Otto English added: "It's like Andrew Lawrence looked at Lee Hurst's career trajectory and went: 'hold my beer!'" Kent comic Lee Hurst was removed from Twitter last month for inciting violence against Professor Chris Whitty.
Following the loss Saka, who is just 19, Sancho and Rashford were subjected to horrific racist abuse online.
