Stephen Fry

[Metropolis]

This is from 2013, where the BBC Trust described an incident where Fry recited a limerick about p@edophilia on QI as ‘regrettable’. His constant references to sex with underage boys going back to his first play Latin! in 1979 is a huge red flag which is continually swept under the carpet.

Stephen Fry paedophilia limerick on QI 'unfortunate and regrettable' …

archived 12 May 2025 06:58:38 UTC

archive.ph

 

[Northern northener]

He has that smug arrogance of Peter Tatchel doesn't he? He thinks he can say things out loud and can get away with it because he's so revered. They get off on it I'm sure.

 

[GrunkaLunka]

They hide in plain sight. Disgusting old man.

 

[StatusWoe]

From the article -
“Why are so many of Stephen Fry's heroes men who grape boys and who wrote at length about their pedophilic fantasies? Why does Fry also focus on adult/child sex in his plays and books?

Malcolm Clark @TwisterFilm has an enlightening thread on the subject:



"1./ Stephen Fry and Britain's Failure to Take Child Abuse Seriously. Our headlines are dominated by the scandal of institutions that refused to protect girls for fear of seeming "racist". My latest article suggests Stephen Fry's knighthood is from the same copybook.
1/of 21"

"2./ In a society that took child abuse seriously Stephen Fry's long track record of minimising child sexual exploitation would have disbarred him from the nation's top honour. In Fry's first play 'Latin' an adult teacher sexually abuses a 13 year old boy and takes him to Morocco."

"3./ The boy writes back to his schoolmates praising the country which he claims takes a relaxed attitude to sex between men and underage boys. They petition to visit. Fry'st in adolescent boys continues in 'Hippopotamus' in which a 15 year old has sex with adults."

I have mixed feelings about this. He's not wrong about Stephen Fry and the minimisation of child abuse, however the 'tradition of homosexual intellectuals glorifying pederasty' is a pretty homophobic framing of that argument. His language is especially concerning now that the hateful 'gay men are groomers' rhetoric has made a comeback. It's true that there are gay public figures who disregarded or condoned child abuse. There were/are prominent straight people who did the same. I don't know anything about Malcolm Clark but I'd question his motives in bringing this up.

That said, nothing he's listed is wrong and it's really important to make people aware of Stephen Fry's history of dismissive comments about SA.

Unlike some other posters here, I used to really have a soft spot for Stephen Fry. I was very young when I used to watch his tv things with my family so maybe I was just easily impressed back then. My mind started to change when he made that awful statement about abuse survivors (while he was president of Mind). It was so...lacking in empathy, it was actually shocking that someone would not only think that but say it out loud. Then I learned more about his writing and how often he jokes about p********** (don't know if that word is censored by tattle). Continual joking about that subject matter is a massive red flag imo. I mean, how does he think survivors feel when they hear someone making light of their experiences?

As for his much younger boyfriends - I just feel sorry for his ex. I forget his name, but they were together a long time and apparently he was extremely upset after they split. He couldn't believe Stephen would abandon him suddenly for a much younger man. Poor guy.

 

[Dotty Merton]

I have mixed feelings about this. He's not wrong about Stephen Fry and the minimisation of child abuse, however the 'tradition of homosexual intellectuals glorifying pederasty' is a pretty homophobic framing of that argument. His language is especially concerning now that the hateful 'gay men are groomers' rhetoric has made a comeback. It's true that there are gay public figures who disregarded or condoned child abuse. There were/are prominent straight people who did the same. I don't know anything about Malcolm Clark but I'd question his motives in bringing this up.

That said, nothing he's listed is wrong and it's really important to make people aware of Stephen Fry's history of dismissive comments about SA.

Unlike some other posters here, I used to really have a soft spot for Stephen Fry. I was very young when I used to watch his tv things with my family so maybe I was just easily impressed back then. My mind started to change when he made that awful statement about abuse survivors (while he was president of Mind). It was so...lacking in empathy, it was actually shocking that someone would not only think that but say it out loud. Then I learned more about his writing and how often he jokes about p********** (don't know if that word is censored by tattle). Continual joking about that subject matter is a massive red flag imo. I mean, how does he think survivors feel when they hear someone making light of their experiences?

As for his much younger boyfriends - I just feel sorry for his ex. I forget his name, but they were together a long time and apparently he was extremely upset after they split. He couldn't believe Stephen would abandon him suddenly for a much younger man. Poor guy.

Poor wee thing, Daniel Cohen. There was lots of press at the time.

 

[Chocolategoggler]

I have mixed feelings about this. He's not wrong about Stephen Fry and the minimisation of child abuse, however the 'tradition of homosexual intellectuals glorifying pederasty' is a pretty homophobic framing of that argument. His language is especially concerning now that the hateful 'gay men are groomers' rhetoric has made a comeback. It's true that there are gay public figures who disregarded or condoned child abuse. There were/are prominent straight people who did the same. I don't know anything about Malcolm Clark but I'd question his motives in bringing this up.

That said, nothing he's listed is wrong and it's really important to make people aware of Stephen Fry's history of dismissive comments about SA.

Unlike some other posters here, I used to really have a soft spot for Stephen Fry. I was very young when I used to watch his tv things with my family so maybe I was just easily impressed back then. My mind started to change when he made that awful statement about abuse survivors (while he was president of Mind). It was so...lacking in empathy, it was actually shocking that someone would not only think that but say it out loud. Then I learned more about his writing and how often he jokes about p********** (don't know if that word is censored by tattle). Continual joking about that subject matter is a massive red flag imo. I mean, how does he think survivors feel when they hear someone making light of their experiences?

As for his much younger boyfriends - I just feel sorry for his ex. I forget his name, but they were together a long time and apparently he was extremely upset after they split. He couldn't believe Stephen would abandon him suddenly for a much younger man. Poor guy.

Public school boys in past decades seemed to lack empathy and were quite hard. Being packed off to boarding school at 7 and no one listening to you when you say you don't want to go, plus the sexual abuse some public schoolers endured can turn out some quite callous people.

 

[StatusWoe]

Poor wee thing, Daniel Cohen. There was lots of press at the time.

View attachment 3639020

Ah yeah that's the one! I hope he's moved on and is happier now.

Guy in the photo above could pass for a sixth former.

Public school boys in past decades seemed to lack empathy and were quite hard. Being packed off to boarding school at 7 and no one listening to you when you say you don't want to go, plus the sexual abuse some public schoolers endured can turn out some quite callous people.

This is so true. I knew someone who went to a posh boarding school in the '80s. He managed to retain his empathy, but he needed a lot of therapy. His experiences totally messed him up. I think it's changing now that there's better attitudes towards mental health, but can't imagine boarding at 7 is good for anyone really.

 

[VeniVidiVicki]

I have mixed feelings about this. He's not wrong about Stephen Fry and the minimisation of child abuse, however the 'tradition of homosexual intellectuals glorifying pederasty' is a pretty homophobic framing of that argument. His language is especially concerning now that the hateful 'gay men are groomers' rhetoric has made a comeback. It's true that there are gay public figures who disregarded or condoned child abuse. There were/are prominent straight people who did the same. I don't know anything about Malcolm Clark but I'd question his motives in bringing this up.

That said, nothing he's listed is wrong and it's really important to make people aware of Stephen Fry's history of dismissive comments about SA.

Unlike some other posters here, I used to really have a soft spot for Stephen Fry. I was very young when I used to watch his tv things with my family so maybe I was just easily impressed back then. My mind started to change when he made that awful statement about abuse survivors (while he was president of Mind). It was so...lacking in empathy, it was actually shocking that someone would not only think that but say it out loud. Then I learned more about his writing and how often he jokes about p********** (don't know if that word is censored by tattle). Continual joking about that subject matter is a massive red flag imo. I mean, how does he think survivors feel when they hear someone making light of their experiences?

As for his much younger boyfriends - I just feel sorry for his ex. I forget his name, but they were together a long time and apparently he was extremely upset after they split. He couldn't believe Stephen would abandon him suddenly for a much younger man. Poor guy.

Malcolm is a gay man who hates the way homosexuality has become linked with all things kink and queer of late. He’s a documentary maker.

His motives are to demonstrate that most gay men don’t condone Fry’s casual dismissal of SA

 

[MargotMoony]

Stolen from the Harry Potter thread. (Not trying to debate the trans issue, there's already a thread for that) But I can believe it's about Fry. How petty and childish. He fully expected his mate to get him the part of Dumbledore and when she didn't he decided to turn on her