Joanna Lumley has said those in favour of cancel culture ‘wouldn’t dare’ go after her beloved Absolutely Fabulous character Patsy Stone.
The actress, 76, is well known for her role as chain-smoking booze hound Patsy in the sitcom where she starred alongside show creator Jennifer Saunders.
Speaking on Talk TV’s Friday Night with Nadine, Joanna admitted she doesn’t think the series would be made today due to Patsy and Edina’s ‘ghastly’ behaviour.
Asked if she thought Patsy would be canceled today, the star simply replied: ‘They wouldn’t dare!’
Elaborating on how times have changed since the show aired, she said: ‘Because this started in 1991, and the world’s changed so much since then.
‘I mean, you wouldn’t be able to smoke, you wouldn’t be able to drink, you wouldn’t be able to snort coke, even though it was…
Candid: Joanna Lumley has said those in favour of cancel culture ‘wouldn’t dare’ go after her beloved Absolutely Fabulous character Patsy Stone
Interview: Speaking on Talk TV’s Friday Night with Nadine, Joanna admitted she doesn’t think the series would be made today due to Patsy and Edina’s ‘ghastly’ behaviour
‘I mean it was high satire on revolting people and it was just terribly funny and the wicked things Edina could say about people and the ghastly behavior of Patsy – wouldn’t be allowed to do it now.’
Discussing the news of John Cleese rebooting Fawlty Towers, Joanna didn’t give fans much hope for an Absolutely Fabulous sequel.
She said: ‘No. Jennifer said not, as she wrote it, no. I think the thing is, that if something is stuck in your minds, like the 12 episodes of Fawlty Towers, which have become so legendary, it seems… It’s very interesting.
Joanna added: ‘John is a very interesting and complicated person. And if he wants to have a crack at it, I mean it’s his show as much as it’s Connie Booth’s show, who apparently it was a bit of a shock to find it was being done but anyway that’s up to them.
‘It won’t affect the 12 episodes people have grown to love. But Jennifer is a very, very wise woman, apart from being a brilliant writer and a beloved friend and she just said now. No more.’
Joanna also spoke out against gender neutral awards, insisting she ‘wouldn’t have a chance’ if she was up against male contemporaries in a category.
Nadine asked: ‘What’s happening now is a result of just having gender neutral categories, is that we will just see again slowly the filtering down of women’s achievements in terms of being recognised, and the men will walk away with all the awards again. Would you agree with me?’
Joanna said: ‘Maybe I do. I mean I ought to say I’m against awards because I don’t see half the time how you can judge… I mean in my particular business, how is a comedy or a thriller, how can you judge one against the other and therefore, how can you judge a performance within one against the other?
Iconic: The actress is well known for her role as booze hound Patsy in the sitcom where she starred alongside show creator Jennifer Saunders who played Edina Monsoon
She said: ‘I mean it was high satire on revolting people and it was just terribly funny and the wicked things Edina could say about people and the ghastly behavior of Patsy – wouldn’t be allowed to do it now’
‘So already you’re up against a lot of things. I think it’s kind of doffing your hat, but if for instance if you dropped it down to just best performance, for instance, let’s take the stage – it’s changing a lot because a lot of women are now doing the men’s Shakespeare parts, but in the old days, Shakespeare was predominantly men.
‘The roles were predominantly men, therefore the Olivier Awards, for instance would be heavily weighted in favor of men because they’d get more parts to be chosen from.’
‘I know that if my name was just put up as best actor, against lots of men, I wouldn’t have a chance but as best actress you might, if you wanted a chance.’
Joanna went on to say she’s not convinced of the value of awards in general, saying so much of it comes down to personal taste on behalf of the jurors.
She added: ‘I’m so lucky I’m the recipient of awards and things but I’m not sure about awards, Nadine. I’m not sure that they’re great. Book awards and things like this, art awards, so much of it is a taste.
‘And then when I read about the Oscars, and I realize that to even get onto a list, to be part of the short list, you have to go around lobbying people and promising things and having lunch with them. These are the stars who are up for it.
Speaking out: Joanna also spoke out against gender neutral awards, insisting she ‘wouldn’t have a chance’ if she was up against male contemporaries in a category
‘You have to go, as it were, tarting around trying to get people in favour. I’m not sure about it. I’m not sure. So I think to diminish it and make it even more sort of, you know, neutral makes it a bit sort of weird. I’m not sure about awards.
‘That’s the truth of it. I’m not sure there ought to be somebody winning and somebody losing. If you want to, the six shortlist, just go walk along the table and give them each a lovely bunch of flowers, that might be fine.’
Watch Friday Night with Nadine on TalkTV at 8pm. Available on Sky 522, Sky Glass 508, Virgin Media 606, Freeview 237 and Freesat 217.
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