Offord Apologizes for 2018 George Michael Joke

Lord Malcolm Offord, leader of Reform UK in Scotland and a member of the House of Lords, has apologized for a joke he made about the late singer George Michael during a Burns Night speech in January 2018 at the London Scottish rugby club in Richmond, where he served as chairman at the time.

The remark, delivered to an audience of about 200 people, targeted Fadi Fawaz, Michael’s partner at the time of the singer’s death in 2016. An attendee, Ian Lewer from Surrey, described the incident in a statement, recalling that Offord’s speech linked Michael’s songs to the works of poet Robert Burns, including video clips and Offord’s dancing. Lewer said the joke about Fawaz stood out as particularly offensive. “It was a crude, bad taste and insulting spectacle,” Lewer stated. “It is utterly bizarre that anyone would get up and make a speech in a room with 200 people and say something like that. It was so shocking I’ve not forgotten it.” He noted the discomfort it caused, including to a gay man seated nearby, and emphasized that even in the informal setting of a rugby club event, the comment crossed a line.

Offord issued a statement acknowledging the joke as inappropriate. “I instantly...