Scottish comedian Janey Godley has died a month after she moved to a hospice for end-of-life care, her agent has said.
The 63-year-old, who found viral fame with her dubbed imitations of Nicola Sturgeon’s COVID-19 news briefings during the pandemic, had announced last month that she was receiving end-of-life care for terminal cancer.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our client Doctor Janey Godley on 2nd November,” her agent said on Saturday.
“Janey died peacefully in the wonderful Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice in Glasgow surrounded by her loved ones. She will be hugely missed by her family, friends and her many fans.
“She will be remembered for her legendary voice overs of Nicola Sturgeon during the pandemic, her hilarious and outspoken comedy, but most of all for just being ‘Janey’.”
Image: Pic: BAFTA/PA
‘We got her longer because of all the support’
Her daughter comedian Ashley Storrie announced the news on social media, writing: “We got her longer because of all of the support and the love in the world.”
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She said in a short video: “I believe in my heart of hearts that she felt every bit of love you sent to her. And I think it kept her going.
“I think genuinely we got her longer because of all of the support and the love in the world. But that’s it over now. So, thank you once again and bye.”
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She also revealed Godley had been awarded an honorary degree from the University Of Glasgow.
Ms Sturgeon, the former first minister, wrote on X: “Janey Godley truly was a force of nature, and one of the funniest people I have ever known.
“I was able to visit her in the hospice a couple of weeks ago and though she was fragile, she still had me in stitches.”
She added: “A bond was forged between us in the darkest days of COVID when her famous voiceovers of my daily briefings went viral. In the toughest of times, she made people laugh – and that was precious.
She did more that (sic) that though. In managing to project the serious public health messages of my briefings to a much wider audience than I would have managed alone, she helped save lives.”
Image: Godley and Nicola Sturgeon pictured in 2023. Pic: PA
Paying tribute, Scottish First Minister John Swinney wrote on X: “Very sorry to hear of the death of Janey Godley.
“She brought joy and laughter on many occasions when we needed it most. My condolences to her family. May she Rest in Peace.”
That infamous Trump sign
In September, Godley cancelled her autumn tour titled Why Is She Still Here? due to her stage four ovarian cancer, which had been treated over the last few years, but had returned with added complications.
At the time, Godley said it was “devastating” to be facing the end of her life, adding “but we all come to an end sometime”.
She also joked: “I don’t know how long I’ve got left before anybody asks. I’m not a TikTok.”
In 2016, Godley went viral after protesting at Donald Trump’s Turnberry golf resort with her infamous “unwelcome” sign (Godley’s sign used slightly spicier language).
She then went on to gain attention during COVID times, voicing videos of Ms Sturgeon’s health briefings and became friends with the former first minister.
Image: Pic: PA
Overcoming adversity
Born into poverty in the East End of Glasgow in 1961 to alcoholic parents, Godley left school aged 16 with no qualifications.
She revealed both she and her sister had been abused by an uncle as a child, for which he served a two-year sentence.
After 15 years running a pub with her husband during the 1980s and 1990s, she began her stand-up career in 1994, going on to co-present BBC Radio 4’s Loose Ends, as well as fronting BBC Radio 4 series The C Bomb.
She also appeared on shows including Have I Got News For You, the Scottish soap opera River City, and crime drama Traces.
Image: Godley with her daughter, comedian Ashley Storrie. Pic: PA
Never shying away from joking about the darker side of life, in 2023, she won the inaugural Sir Billy Connolly Spirit of Glasgow Award at the Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
Godley wrote her debut novel in 2022, a murder mystery titled Nothing Left Unsaid set in 1970s Glasgow. Warmly received, celebrity fans included TV chef Nigella Lawson who said it was so good, she read it in two sittings.
A fierce supporter of Scottish independence, Godley was also a vocal advocate of transgender rights, she continued campaigning on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community up until her death.
She leaves behind her husband of 44 years, Sean Storrie, and her daughter.
A woman who saw a man falling from an upper tier at Wembley Stadium says a similar incident at an Oasis concert over the weekend in which a fan died makes her wonder whether lessons have been learned.
Stephanie Good, 39, said a man fell during a Euro 2020 match between England and Croatia at Wembley in June 2021.
He landed “right next to where we were” on the “stairwell between rows of seats”, she said.
Named as Jon, he reportedly survived but suffered two broken ankles, a fractured femur and fractured pelvis just before kick-off.
Ms Good said she tried to give feedback but was unable to and felt the “emergency response was really lacking”.
The man reportedly fell from the stadium’s upper tier.
In his 40s, he was found with “injuries consistent with a fall” and pronounced dead at the scene, the Met Police said.
Ms Good, an NHS manager from east London, said what happened at the Oasis gig was “so similar” to what she witnessed that it made her wonder “were lessons learned”?
Image: Liam and Noel Gallagher on stage for the first Wembley night of the Oasis reunion tour. Pic: Lewis Evans
During that incident, among stadium staff “nobody seemed to know what to do”, she told the Press Association.
She thinks the man may have been trying to attach a flag to the front of a stand and “somehow managed to fall straight over”.
She said: “They (staff) didn’t seem well-trained in terms of how to respond to a really big emergency.
“Their stewards were kind of paralysed a little bit by fear, or they just weren’t well trained and didn’t know how to call for paramedics.
“It was us who were sort of shouting at them that they needed to get some paramedics.
“The first person on the scene wasn’t a stadium paramedic or St John Ambulance. It was an off-duty firefighter who had seen the guy fall and ran down to just try and offer some help.”
Regarding the follow-up, Ms Good said staff moved spectators to other seats but did not ask for witness statements.
She added: “They didn’t seek any input from people who’d seen the incident or the aftermath of it. They didn’t seem interested in speaking to anybody about it.
“I was a bit concerned, because I felt that the emergency response was really lacking.”
She then tried to get in touch to give feedback, but was unable to do so and did not receive a response to a message on social media, she said.
A Wembley spokesperson said: “Wembley Stadium operates to a very high health and safety standard, fully meeting legal requirements for the safety of spectators and staff, and is certified to and compliant with the ISO 45001 standard.
“We work very closely and collaboratively with all relevant event delivery stakeholders – including event owners, local authorities, the Sports Grounds Safety Authority and the police – to deliver events to high standards of safety, security and service for everyone attending or working in the venue.”
Sean “Diddy” Combs has been denied bail ahead of his sentencing on prostitution-related charges.
Judge Arun Subramanian said the hip-hop mogul had failed to show sufficient evidence he is not a flight risk and also cited admissions of previous violence made during his trial.
Combs, 55, has been in prison since his arrest in September last year.
During a two-month trial, jurors heard allegations that he had coerced former girlfriends, including singer and model Cassie Ventura, into having drug-fuelled sex marathons with male sex workers, while he watched and filmed them.
Image: Diddy fell to his knees after the verdict was delivered last month. Pic: Reuters/ Jane Rosenberg
The rapper’s legal team hailed this a “victory” and immediately applied for bail ahead of sentencing, citing his acquittal on the top charges.
After this was denied, they submitted another application last week. Judge Subramanian has now rejected the request again.
In denying the motion for bail, the judge found Combs had failed to show sufficient evidence to counter arguments he is a flight risk, writing in a court filing: “Increasing the amount of the bond or devising additional conditions doesn’t change the calculus given the circumstances and heavy burden of proof that Combs bears.”
Image: Judge Arun Subramanian heard Diddy’s trial and will also sentence the rapper
He also found that an argument by the music star’s legal team that the squalor and danger of the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), where he is being held, did not warrant release.
“The public outcry concerning these conditions has come from all corners,” the judge wrote. “But as Combs acknowledges, MDC staff has been able to keep him safe and attend to his needs, even during an incident of threatened violence from an inmate.”
The judge has not yet responded to this application.
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How the Diddy trial unfolded
How long could Diddy be jailed for?
Combs is due to be sentenced on 3 October and could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.
Discussions on sentencing guidelines which followed the jury’s verdict suggest it is unlikely he will be jailed for this long, with an estimate of around two to five years, taking into account time already served.
However, it is ultimately up to Judge Arun Subramanian to decide the rapper’s punishment.
On Friday, Donald Trump was asked during an interview about a potential pardon for Combs following speculation about the issue.
The president said it was unlikely, adding that the rapper was “very hostile” during his presidential campaign.
Combs, who co-founded Bad Boy Records and launched the career of the late Notorious BIG, was for decades a huge figure in pop culture – a Grammy-winning hip-hop artist and business entrepreneur, who presided over an empire ranging from fashion to reality TV.
As well as the criminal conviction, he is also facing several civil lawsuits.