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Liam O'Dell
Aug 03, 2022
Related video: David Starkey says losing his honorary university titles was an act of 'crass vengeance'
GB News
There’s something so hilariously contradictory about public figures using their platforms to talk about no longer having a platform – or rather, being “cancelled” – and it seems TV historian David Starkey is the latest individual to fail to spot the hypocrisy.
Back in July 2020, Starkey apologised for an interview he gave to Brexiteer Darren Grimes in which he made the extremely offensive claim that slavery wasn’t genocide as there were “so many damn blacks” currently in the UK and Africa.
“An awful lot of them survived,” he added.
The remarks were soon met with widespread condemnation, with former health secretary Sajid Javid describing the comments as “appalling” and historian David Olusoga branding them “truly disgusting”.
The 75-year-old lost his honorary fellowship at Cambridge University, Canterbury Christ Church University in Kent terminated his visiting professorship, and publisher HarperCollins confirmed they would not be publishing any further books with Starkey after the “abhorrent” comments.
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In a statement apologising for his comments, Starkey said it was a “bad mistake” and that the “deeply inflammatory” remarks were made with “awful clumsiness”.
He added his “principal” regret was that the backlash would “further restrict the opportunities for proper debate”.
Well, since then, he's appeared on Nigel Farage's GB News show to claim the universities dropping his honorary titles was an act of "crass vengeance".
The historian made the comments to Farage back in October, in the same month that he set up a YouTube channel to talk about history - titled David Starkey Talks, obviously.
But what is perhaps more bizarre is the online shop which came with it, which has resurfaced online in recent days.
Posters, T-shirts and mugs are just some of the merchandise listed on the website, emblazoned with slogans such as “I’m with Starkey”, “Henry VIII: The First Brexiteer” and “Uncancelled”.
Yes, really.
After historian Emilie K M Murphy shared screenshots of some of the products to Twitter on Wednesday morning, social media users have expressed their disgust at the branded items:
\u201cThis time, I've got nothing.\u201d— Joanne Harris (@Joanne Harris) 1659526245
\u201cWell it ain\u2019t history\u201d— Angela Eagle DBE (@Angela Eagle DBE) 1659522933
\u201cFound all your Christmas presents already\u201d— Alex von Tunzelmann (@Alex von Tunzelmann) 1659522280
\u201cturned up to a first date wearing the david starkey neck gaiter, why did she leave?\u201d— rose \u2764\ufe0f\u200d\ud83d\udd25\ud83d\udde1 (@rose \u2764\ufe0f\u200d\ud83d\udd25\ud83d\udde1) 1659519582
\u201cMy \u00a324 David Starkey\u2122 uncancelled neck gaiter and \u00a318 matching pint glass has people asking a lot of questions already answered by my neck gaiter and matching pint glass\u201d— Hannah Rose Woods (@Hannah Rose Woods) 1659515333
\u201c"Are you alright babes, you've barely worn your David Starkey chin neck gaiter?"\u201d— Nick (@Nick) 1659523596
\u201c@emilieKMmurphy Ok, beyond everything else (and there is a LOT) if he is uncancelled why is the tape over his mouth?\u201d— Emilie K. M. Murphy\ud83c\udf3b (@Emilie K. M. Murphy\ud83c\udf3b) 1659513374
\u201c@emilieKMmurphy It\u2019s the \u2018women\u2019s comfort tee\u2019 that is sending me\u201d— Emilie K. M. Murphy\ud83c\udf3b (@Emilie K. M. Murphy\ud83c\udf3b) 1659513374
\u201c@emilieKMmurphy Ahahaha - taking a lesson from his pal Darren Grimes on how to grift. What an absolute loser.\u201d— Emilie K. M. Murphy\ud83c\udf3b (@Emilie K. M. Murphy\ud83c\udf3b) 1659513374
Rather fittingly, the reaction to Starkey’s embarrassing merch is one for the history books…
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