Noel Gallagher has been branded as ‘vile’ by a disability charity over comments he made about his time at Glastonbury Festival.
The former Oasis star performed before headliner Paul McCartney with his High Flying Birds.
Speaking recently on The Matt Morgan Podcast, he said he watched Jamie T from the disabled viewing platform, showing his access all areas pass after a security guard initially tried to block him.
The 55-year-old said his group “couldn’t get to the bit on stage because we were f***ing wasted’, so he flashed his pass and said ‘this lot are with me, and we walked on to this platform – unbeknownst to us it was the disabled platform.”
He proceeded to joke that he would have tipped someone out of their wheelchair and encouraged his son to sit in it, adding that he would touch people on the forehead and tell them: “Rise… you can walk.”
“I gotta say, those disabled cats have a great view of everything,”.
While the rock star was clearly speaking in jest, his comments have not gone down well with disability charity Scope.
The Mirror reports that Warren Kirwan, the charity’s media manager, said of Gallagher:
“The casual abuse and belittling of disabled people in this interview is vile. There is no excuse for this kind of language.”
“On top of that, accessible platforms aren’t for privileged rock stars and their friends. These platforms exist so that disabled people can enjoy live music – without them many of our festivals would simply be off limits.”
On Twitter, the charity doubled down on its criticism, claiming Gallagher’s behaviour and comments were ‘beyond insulting’.
The charity tweeted: “Reports of @NoelGallagher’s behaviour at Glastonbury were upsetting enough.”
“But to hear him boast about his actions, and openly mock disabled people in the process, is beyond insulting.”
Source: The LADBible
Photo: Getty