A 39-year-old man has misplaced his job as a fundraising advisor following a confrontation with comic Matt Lucas at a London Underground station.
The Incident Unfolds
Final month, Matt Lucas, the 51-year-old star recognized for Little Britain alongside David Walliams, confronted harassment as he exited a tube station. Thomas Bourne noticed Lucas on an escalator and, perceiving a hostile look, started recording along with his telephone whereas shouting “Free Palestine! Free Palestine!”
Bourne shared the video on-line, the place it shortly drew widespread backlash as a result of Lucas’s Jewish heritage. Bourne later admitted he had no prior information of Lucas’s background, stating he solely acknowledged him from the TV present Little Britain.
Bourne’s Account
In an interview, Bourne described the second: “I used to be going up the escalator and appeared to my aspect and noticed somebody giving me an uncomfortable even hostile look and I realised it was Matt Lucas. My instantaneous response—as anybody’s could be who was going to confront somebody—was to tug out my digicam telephone and shout ‘Free Palestine! Free Palestine!’ On account of that video, I really misplaced my job.”
After a good friend knowledgeable him that the clip was going viral and revealed Lucas’s Jewish identification, Bourne mentioned: “My coronary heart completely sunk and I believed ‘Oh no, this isn’t good’ as a result of I may already image in my head how this may very well be framed and the way this may very well be interpreted, and the ramifications round that. So I instantly deleted the video understanding this might have unhealthy ramifications.”
Job Penalties
The viral footage led on to Bourne’s dismissal from his function. Sources verify the employment termination stemmed from the general public outcry over the recorded harassment.
