Matt Lucas apologises to Millie Bobby Brown after actress hits out at ‘bullying’
Comedian Matt Lucas has apologised to actress Millie Bobby Brown after he posted a Little Britain catchphrase alongside photographs of the 21-year-old on social media.
Lucas, 50, wrote “no but yeah but”, a phrase used by delinquent teenager Vicky Pollard in the sketch comedy series he co-created, on an X post that reshared pictures of the Stranger Things star.
The photos show Brown in Los Angeles wearing hoop earrings and a pink top, which Lucas said had prompted him to point out “the similarity by posting one of her [Vicky’s] catchphrases”.
Jake Bongiovi and Millie Bobby Brown at Netflix’s “The Electric State” world premiere
Matt Lucas as Vicky Pollard in 2005. Pic: Shutterstock
The apology came after an Instagram post from Brown in which she hit out at negative comments and “bullying” about her appearance on social media and in news articles.
Lucas said: “Dear Millie, I just saw your post and wanted to respond, and provide some context. Nearly 25 years ago I co-wrote and appeared in a sketch show called Little Britain.
“There was a character in it called Vicky Pollard, who had blonde hair and always wore a pink top, and in the photo you had blonde hair and wore a pink top so I pointed out the similarity by posting one of her catchphrases.
“I thought you looked terrific and I was mortified when the press wrote that I ‘slammed’ you, firstly because that’s not my style, and secondly because I think you’re brilliant.
“I would not have posted it if I had thought it would have upset you but I realise it has and for that I apologise.”
Little Britain, which also starred David Walliams, began as a radio show in 2000 and moved to TV in 2003, running for three series.
Read more from Sky News:
Dolly Parton’s husband of 60 years dies
What we learnt from Meghan’s new show
Comedy ‘super producer’ dies after accident abroad
In her video, Brown said: “I want to take a moment to address something that I think is bigger than just me, something that affects every young woman who grows up under public scrutiny.
“I think this is very necessary to talk about. I started in this industry when I was 10 years old. I grew up in front of the world, and, for some reason, people can’t seem to grow with me.
“Instead, they act like I’m supposed to stay frozen in time, like I should still look the way I did on Stranger Things season one. And because I don’t, I’m now a target.”
She quoted headlines from articles, among them references to Lucas’s comments, which she said were “amplifying an insult rather than questioning why a grown man is mocking a young woman’s appearance”.
“This isn’t journalism. This is bullying. The fact that adult writers are spending their time dissecting my face, my body, my choices, is disturbing.
“The fact that some of these articles are written by women makes it even worse. We always talk about supporting and uplifting young women but, when it comes down to it, it seems a lot easier to tear them down for clicks,” she added.
“Disillusioned people can’t handle seeing a girl become a woman on her terms, not their own. I refuse to apologise for growing up. I refuse to make myself smaller to fit the unrealistic expectations of people who can’t handle seeing a girl become a woman.
“I will not be shamed for how I look, how I dress, or how I present myself. We have become a society where it’s so much easier to criticise than it is to pay a compliment.”
She ended her post by saying: “Let’s do better. Not just for me, but for every young girl who deserves to grow up without the fear of being torn apart for simply existing.”
Celebrities including Sex And The City’s Sarah Jessica Parker, as well as singers Pixie Lott and Lily Allen, left messages of support for the young actress.
Brown became a household name after starring as Eleven in the hit Netflix series Stranger Things.
The fifth and final series of the show, which started in 2016, is due to air this year.
The British actress also landed the title role as mystery-solving sleuth Enola Holmes in the 2020 film and its sequel two years later.
Brown, who married Jake Bongiovi, the son of rock star Jon Bon Jovi, last year, has been promoting the new Russo Brothers film, The Electric State, in which she stars alongside Chris Pratt.
A senior Labour MP has said the government needs to take “corrective action” over planned disability benefit cuts – as Sir Keir Starmer faces a growing backbench rebellion.
Tan Dhesi, chair of the influential Commons defence committee, told the Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge the “disappointing” local election results show the government must listen and learn, particularly over welfare reforms.
The government has proposed tightening the eligibility requirements for the personal independent payment, known as PIP.
Politics latest: Farage urged to suspend new Reform councillor
A claimant must score a minimum of four points on one PIP daily living activity, such as preparing food, washing and bathing, using the toilet or reading, to receive the daily living element of the benefit.
Mr Dhesi, the MP for Slough, said “corrective action” needs to be taken but insisted if the government changed tact, it would not be a U-turn as the disability cuts were only proposals.
Tan Dhesi spoke to Sky’s Sophy Ridge
“A government which is in listening mode should be looking at what the electorate is saying,” he said.
“And we need to make sure that it’s our moral duty, responsibility, to look after the most vulnerable within our community, whether that’s in Slough, whether that’s elsewhere across the country.
“So, I hope that the government will be taking on board that feedback and many of us as MPs are giving that feedback in various meetings happening here in Westminster and then we need to take corrective action.”
Alex Davies-Jones said the government was seeking to ‘protect the vulnerable’
Minister Alex Davies-Jones told the Politics Hub a Labour government “will always seek to protect the most vulnerable” and it wants to “listen to people who have got real lived experience”.
She added she has the “utmost respect for Tan, he’s a great constituency MP and he’s doing exactly what he should be doing, is representing his constituency”.
Sir Keir is facing a rebellion from Labour MPs, with about 40 in the Red Wall – Labour’s traditional heartlands in the north of England – reposting a statement on social media in which they said the leadership’s response to the local elections had “fallen on deaf ears”.
Read more:
Starmer defends winter fuel cut
The choice facing Labour in face of Reform threat
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Starmer defends winter fuel cuts
Several backbench Labour MPs also spoke out against the plans during a debate on PIP and disabled people in parliament on Wednesday.
Ian Byrne, MP for Liverpool West Derby, said he would “swim through vomit to vote against” the proposed changes and said: “This is not what the Labour Party was formed to do.”
Bell Ribeiro-Addy, the MP for Clapham and Brixton Hill, said she feared tightening PIP eligibility would cause deaths, adding: “Lest we forget that study that attributed 330,000 excess deaths in Britain between 2012 and 2019 to the last round of austerity cuts [under the Conservative government].”
Diane Abbott, the longest-serving female MP, accused the government of putting forward “contradictory arguments”.
“On the one hand, they insist they are helping the disabled by putting them back to work,” she said.
“But on the other hand, they say this cut will save £9bn. Well, you can’t do both.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘I’ll struggle if I lose disability support’
However, fellow Labour MP David Pinto-Duschinsky, said MPs cannot “ignore this issue” of health-related benefit claimant figures rising at “twice the rate of underlying health conditions”.
Responding for the government, social security minister Sir Stephen Timms said PIP claims were set to “more than double, from two million to over 4.3 million this decade”.
“It would certainly not be in the interests of people currently claiming the benefits for the government to bury its head in the sand over that rate of increase,” he added.
A man whose dismembered body was found in a suitcase had raped and blackmailed a teenager, a court has heard.
The remains of Albert Alfonso, 62, and Paul Longworth, 71, were found in a suitcase and trunk which had been left near the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol in July 2024.
Yostin Mosquera is on trial at the Old Bailey in London accused of murdering and dismembering Mr Alfonso and Mr Longworth.
The 35-year-old denies both murders but has admitted the manslaughter of Mr Alfonso.
A witness, giving evidence under the pseudonym James Smith, appeared at the trial by video link on Wednesday.
Mr Smith said he met Mr Alfonso nearly 20 years ago when he was around 17 or 18 and had gone to his flat for drinks.
He said he remembered drinking heavily and then waking up with a “banging headache”.
“I said to him, ‘what’s happened?’ – he showed me a video of me on all fours and he was penetrating me,” he told the court.
“I didn’t know what to do. I was mortified. At this point, I didn’t know my sexuality – I was confused and scared.”
He said Mr Alfonso told him if he did “favours”, the video would never be shared.
Under cross-examination, defence barrister Tom Little KC asked: “Does it cross your mind, looking back, that you were raped?”
“Now, yes,” Mr Smith replied.
“And does it cross your mind that your drink may have been spiked?”, the barrister asked.
“Now, yes,” the witness responded.
“Does it cross your mind that you were groomed by Albert Alfonso?”, Mr Little asked.
“Now, yes,” Mr Smith said.
After the alleged incident, the two met regularly, with Mr Alfonso paying Mr Smith around £150 for each sexual encounter, the court heard.
During the COVID pandemic, the witness said he became closer with Mr Alfonso and began spending time with Mr Longworth.
Mr Smith told the court he was later introduced to Mosquera.
Yostin Mosquera is on trial at the Old Bailey. Pic: Metropolitan Police/PA
He said the relationship between Mosquera and Mr Alfonso was “good – very good”.
“I didn’t see anything that seemed like they disliked each other,” he added.
He described Mr Longworth as someone who “wouldn’t hurt a fly”.
Read more from Sky News:
Hosepipe ban looms for England
Second US fighter jet falls into sea
Mr Smith said the final time he saw Mr Alfonso and Mr Longworth was on a Friday evening before the bodies were discovered.
“Albert gave me a hug, Paul gave me a hug, and that was the last I heard of those two,” he said.
The trial continues.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway