Critics round on MP David Lammy as Comic Relief suffers £8MILLION drop in Red Nose Day donations amid fears public was put off by his bitter ‘white saviour’ row with Stacey Dooley over Strictly star’s trip to Africa
Comic Relief co founder Lenny Henry helped present Friday nights Red Nose Day appeal
MP David Lammy has been slammed by critics who blame his ‘white saviour’ tweets for Comic Relief’s £8million drop in donations.
Critics say a Twitter spat between Mr Lammy, 46, and documentary maker Stacey Dooley, 32, turned people away from making a donation after just £63million was raised.
That is compared to £71.3million in 2018.
Mr Lammy criticised Comic Relief for sending white people to Africa to show poverty there saying it was part of a ‘white saviour’ complex left over from a ‘colonial era’.
A Twitter spat between MP David Lammy and documentary maker Stacey Dooley, 32, has been blamed for fewer donations after just £63million was raised
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Stacey Dooley received an outpouring of support by Comic Relief viewers as her controversial charity trip to Africa was aired
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The documentary-maker, 32, visited clinics in Uganda for pregnant women and malaria sufferers
This year’s total is on track to be the lowest raised since 2007 – when just £40.2million was tallied by the end of the night.
But £63million is still far below the record-breaking £108million raised in 2011.
Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, joined criticism of MP David Lammy as his Twitter spat with Miss Dooley was blamed for putting people off donating.
