Is fairy tale of New York a sackable offence ?

[Veeveeoxox]

My OH played fairy tale of New York the censored version on a zoom Christmas party, he works in IT contracting moved from financial services to the public sector. They are now saying many people got offended and hurt by the song and they are wondering if he's a good cultural fit for this department .

AIBU to think this is absolutely ridiculous ? My OH is already looking for another job as the field is such in high demand he's not worried. They also waited until today to tell him instead of a month ago when the supposed incident happened.

If he played the Ronan Keating version he should have been sacked on the spot.

Ffs top Christmas tune, I mean really?

No, you're not being unreasonable.
Unfortunately, the Public Sector is full of people who will act "offended" for personal gain (usually promotion) as it nicely ticks the "diversity box".
If I was your OH, I'd look for another job pronto.

Back in the 70s when Chas and Dave performed Gertcha on Top of the Pops they were made to censor the word ‘cowson’. I doubt anyone now knows what that word means.

Not RTFT. Is this the song with the gay slur beginning with F?
Horrible song and I often wonder why it’s played so much but I don’t know if it’s a “sackable offence”. Colleagues have clearly said it’s made them uncomfortable and should be listened to.

@Jayne35

I'm surprised they sang without any changes. I adore the song but I think the "faggot" slur isn't really something I want to hear

It wasn’t meant as a slur against gay people in this song though, I just took it as meaning lazy, useless etc. If it was a song that was homophobic then yes, absolutely, ban it and never play it again. Same as slut which used to mean lazy housewife or something. I like the song and really don’t get the uproar about it.

Op, I agree with others, they were just looking for a reason.

It could be triggering for people though. At a time, that we’re supposed to be spreading good cheer, no one will miss this song, really.

no one will miss this song, really

No really, I will. I like this Christmas song and I don't really like Christmas songs that much. You can tell its being phased out from mainstream radio playlists especially this year, I've hardly heard it and I do in fact already miss it. I dont find it homophobic or sexist generally, yes the language is of a different era but they've censored the bad words now so what's the problem?

However, here's an excerpt from the chorus of Stormzy's "Vossi Bop", a very popular song (think it got to number 1 in the charts a few years back) and played constantly on radio 1 at the time. I just heard it again the other day. Totally uncensored:

Gettin' freaky in the sheets, we're takin' body shots
Then I finish with a facial just to top it off

So we can cancel a censored version of FTONY, but Stormzy and all the other sexist crap they're feeding to teens over on radio 1 (and let's not mention the music videos 🙄) is perfectly okay apparently. Okay.

I think the country we are now living in has become a very scary place if people are now threatened/ facing termination of contract for playing a Christmas song.

@OmgIThinkILikeYou

Every person I know who has issues with this song are what I like to call 'straight saviours'. They aren't gay and don't socialise with many gay people yet like to tell everyone how offended they are over this song. It's easier to argue over a song lyric after a glass of white than it is to actually do anything. Nor would they want any change if it had any impact whatsoever on their lives.

This is my experience too. I'm gay and know many a gay man, none are offended by this song It's always straight people, with no real understanding. I'd miss it.

@Veeveeoxox

My OH played fairy tale of New York the censored version on a zoom Christmas party, he works in IT contracting moved from financial services to the public sector. They are now saying many people got offended and hurt by the song and they are wondering if he's a good cultural fit for this department .

AIBU to think this is absolutely ridiculous ? My OH is already looking for another job as the field is such in high demand he's not worried. They also waited until today to tell him instead of a month ago when the supposed incident happened.

I work in an FE college and the enrichment team played the uncensored version yhe Christmas before COVID became a thing. I made a joke of how noone checked the playlist from the student union but noone cared. This is public sector.
I worked for a local authority once and sent an email to people about how a certain president of a country in Africa had an amazing life whilst his people were starving. One person emailed me back stating they found the email 'political' and not becoming of government employees. The admin staff told him to stop being a nob.

"Don't get me wrong, I am a female who has worked in a male dominated industry for decades so I am more than glad to see us as a society trying to move past casual everyday racism, sexism and homophobia - I know more than anyone how hurtful it is and how damaging it is. but cancel culture amongst the liberal woke 'yoof of today' has gone too far imo. They have become the bullies and the discriminators themselves."

THIS

I’m offended by the censored version! We listened to the original version for years and enjoyed it, but nowadays someone has to be offended by everything. There’s worse things said on tv every day than the things in that song.

@Simonjt

Being offended by an extremely offensive slur isn’t being a snowflake. The word slut was the only word removed in the original radio edit, which you seem to have ignored.
Would you happily support the N word sung by a white artist

I really wouldn’t care because I recognise that music , just like film is an art that portrays characters that are sometimes real gritty and nasty.
The two characters in FTONY were obviously in a heterosexual relationship and were being nasty to each other… not to worldwide gays.
Similarly you will get characters in film and music who are nasty about black people or use the slurs. It’s a caricature of real life!
There are plenty of songs sung by men singing about bitches and hoes and boobies and suggesting blow jobs etc etc

For me it is far worse to hear songs that go into graphic detail about vaginas for the whole song.

Is it bollocks.

Sounds like the f***t word is replaced in the censored version. No idea what there is to be offended by.