Video: Telephone interview with Roy ‘Chubby’ Brown’s manager on cancelled gig
Roy ‘Chubby’ Brown’s manager has hit back at Ashfield District Council after they cancelled the comic’s booking at a Kirkby venue.
The authority said on Wednesday it had scrapped Brown’s planned October appearance at the Festival Hall, saying the booking was “not appropriate” for a council-owned venue.
Brown is known for his extreme ‘blue’ adult comedy, but has built a large cult following over a fifty-year career.
His manager, Steven lloyd, told Notts TV News: “I got a call last Friday that said ‘we’ve got some bad news for you, a councillor’s gone past the theatre and seen one of the posters up and said he’s (Roy)not coming here’. So because of this opinion we’ve had to cancel the whole show.
“Don’t get me wrong, a lot of venues say they don’t want Roy and we say ‘no problem’ and then move along to the next venue, but to actually book 
him knowing exactly what he does and then five months later change their mind and say they don’t want him, it’s absolutely crazy.”
The hall is owned by the council but is managed and operated by a separate company, SLM.
Notts TV asked Ashfield District Council which councillor had first objected to the booking in order to contact them for a response to Mr Lloyd’s comments.
It replied by re-issuing the original statement about the gig.
It read: “Ashfield District Council, as owner of the Festival Hall, Kirkby, instructed the venue’s management company, SLM, who operate the site, to cancel a booking for Roy “Chubby” Brown.
“Cancelling the event has not cost the Council anything, nor would it have gained financially from the event. The booking was cancelled prior to the event being put on sale.
“The council does not feel that the booking was appropriate for a council venue and not one that it wished to be associated with.”
The show was to be played on October 22.
The con
troversial performer is rarely seen on television due to his ‘adult’ nature but has sold more than one million DVDs and CDS worldwide.
Mr Lloyd added: “I feel for the fans that were looking forward to coming to see him at that venue and now they can’t see him because one man doesn’t want him there.
“I just want to say I’m sorry to the Nottingham fans because we did try and get him in there. I’ve even said if the venue put their hands up and says ‘we’re sorry’ we’d be happy to put the show on for them.”
A separate gig by Brown at Mansfield Town’s One Call Stadium – An Evening With Royston Vasey, The Man Behind ‘Roy Chubby Brown’ – is still scheduled for Saturday, March 26.
