It's Bernard Banning
Venue axes 'bigot's' gig
A hotel has pulled the plug on a Bernard Manning gig, branding him ‘a racist and a bigot’.
The much-loathed comic was due to perform at a private party in Coventry’s Brookland Grange Hotel.
But as soon as the hotel's boss heard about the booking, she said he wouldn’t be allowed to set foot in the building.
Managing director Lesley Jackson, a former businesswoman of the year, told the Coventry Evening Telegraph: "We had a party booked, they told me they had booked Mr Manning, I told them he wasn't coming here and they cancelled it themselves.
"The man is a racist and a bigot and I don't want him on my property. I've got black staff here and I wouldn't let him in."
Manning's manager, Chris Graham, was furious about the cancellation, and threatened legal action.
He said: "Mr Manning is not a racist, sexist, bigot. Freedom of expression is one of the most important laws in this country - everyone is entitled to that.
"And it has to be said that Mr Manning does an awful lot of work for charity, and has an Afro-Caribbean woman on tour with him."
But Manning conceded: "I've been a licensee myself for over 40 years, if there's an act I don't like I wouldn't let them in either."Published: 2 May 2004
