The Pogues’ Shane MacGowan doesn’t understand why ‘f****t’ is insulting to the gay community
Each year, the iconic Christmas song comes under fire for using the homophobic slur
By Steve Brown
Words: Steve Brown
The Pogues’ singer Shane MacGowan doesn’t understand why the word ‘f****t’ is insulting to the gay community.
Each year, the iconic Christmas song ‘Fairytale of New York’ featuring English singer Kirsty McColl comes under fire after some radio stations decide not to bleep out the homophobic slur, and many have called for the word to be omitted on every station.
Last year, MacGowan admitted he is “absolutely fine” with the word being bleeped when played on the radio.
But now, it appears the singer has been drawn into the conversation again and he says he doesn’t understand why the gay community are insulted by the word.
Speaking on Ireland’s Late Late Show, he said: “I’ve been told it’s insulting to gays.
“I don’t understand how that works. Nobody in the band thinks that’s worth a second’s thought.”
While speaking on The Tonight Show last year, MacGowan defended using the slur and said he was creating an ‘authentic character’.
He said: “She is just supposed to be an authentic character and not all characters in songs and stories are angels or even decent and respectable, sometimes characters in songs and stories have to be evil or nasty in order to tell the story effectively.
“If people don’t understand that I was trying to accurately portray the character as authentically as possible then I am absolutely fine with them bleeping the word but I don’t want to get into an argument.”
Listen to ‘Fairytale of New York’ below: