
Andrew Neil has kicked off on a tantrum again, this time about the comic Stewart Lee, who wrote a less than flattering piece about him in the Guardian.
There's only one problem, his takedown massively backfired.
Ouch.
Taking to the social media platform in a huff, Neil wrote:
We used to think the Guardian a serious newspaper. Now it publishes garbage like this. At least we never thought Stewart Lee (who he - ed) a comic.
We used to think the Guardian a serious newspaper. Now it publishes garbage like this. At least we never thought St… https://t.co/hv4nGKBYQ5— Andrew Neil (@Andrew Neil) 1551648015
The Guardian article that angered Neil starts with the unflattering paragraph:
Last week, supposedly unprecedented spring wildfires raged across dry, bushy and exposed areas.
On Monday, having dealt with serious incidents at Saddleworth Moor and Hundred Acre Wood, teams of specialised firefighters also attended the small piece of Shredded Wheat that lives on top of Andrew Neil’s head.
It then continues in a similar vein, also mentioning Brexit, Jeremy Corbyn, and hungry Spaniards, yes, really.
Some were quick to point out that it's only comedy.
@afneil Cheer up Andrew it’s comedy. And bloody funny comedy too— Reverend&TheMakers 💙 (@Reverend&TheMakers 💙) 1551702218
Nope, definitely, definitely not a self-own.
@afneil https://t.co/6LSLjbz7vw— Bart Owl ☀️ (@Bart Owl ☀️) 1551775478
It's an opinion piece, Andrew.
@afneil Clue's in the big ObserverOpinions banner... https://t.co/PrLOOd7Vd0— Toby Moses (@Toby Moses) 1551702006
Is someone doing a big pretend?
Imagine being so desperate to convince the internet you haven't been owned that you pretend you've never heard of S… https://t.co/46OMsVC431— katie spalding (@katie spalding) 1551742315
Even good old Richard Bacon got involved.
Andrew Neil questioning whether Stewart Lee is a comic is very Noel Edmonds. And very Alan Partridge’s old “moribun… https://t.co/JNgcUWdIxd— richard bacon (@richard bacon) 1551741772
Yes, looks like a big pretend to us!
Really embarrassing for Stewart Lee that the man Andrew Neil pretends edits his tweets is pretending not to have he… https://t.co/3butZF62Ie— Hannah Rose Woods (@Hannah Rose Woods) 1551776114
Ah, great, Neil is rising above it all. Well done to him.
But you rise above it, and that’s the important thing https://t.co/uaUPZgWlOZ— Mitch Benn 🇬🇧🇪🇺 (@Mitch Benn 🇬🇧🇪🇺) 1551742022
Stewart Lee couldn't have done better himself.
To sum up, thanks for sharing, Andrew. Real nice of you.
@afneil I thought this bit was pretty cool. Thanks for sharing https://t.co/cTZNySwqNT— anarchitexture (@anarchitexture) 1551649040
HT The Poke