Michelle Dewberry has slammed Stephen Fry after reports that the celebrity said Marylebone Cricket Club’s image was one of “beetroot-coloured gentlemen.”
The idea of single-sex spaces is one that is often up for debate, with some wanting to protect them and others feeling that all genders should be included.
Speaking about this on GB News Michelle said: “It is pathetic. Why? It was absolutely pathetic.
“Why can they not be a men-only club? Why do women feel a need to muscle in? Why are you not allowed?”
Michelle Dewberry fumed over the debate
GB News
She added: “Well, there’s loads of clubs that allow everyone in, and there’s some clubs that only allow men in, and there’s some clubs that only allow women in.
“Why do women or activists feel the need to try and muscle in and start crying? Because men have got their own space and they are so desperate to be in it.
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“Don’t talk to me about people like Stephen Fry, because those people have been members of that club happily.”
Journalist Sebastian Payne argued: “I mean, I just think having gender divides in clubs is an archaic thing and shouldn’t exist.”
Michelle then asked him whether men should be allowed in the Women’s Institute and he responded: “I don’t think Women’s Institute is a private member’s club. It’s an educational charity.
“So I think I would have no problem with men who want to be involved working with that, if they are promoting the aims of the organisation, I think that men should be allowed in women’s only clubs.”
Stephen Fry reportedly said Marylebone Cricket Club’s image was one of ‘beetroot-coloured gentlemen’
PA
In an email posted on the members’ independent forum and reported by The Times, Fry said: “Oh dear, I’ve made a complete clot of myself yet again.
“I’m so sorry that what I said at Hay has come across as criticism of the club, its members, its ethos – I was attempting the exact opposite.
“I went off into a wildly overdone – absolutely – prose picture of the image that some have of the club. Edwardian, public school, etc etc. Very much, I admitted ruefully, my image too.
“Yes, I should have made it clearer that the reality is different, but I thought I had and that it was obvious.”
He added: “I didn’t really get time to make the case for the club as clearly as I should have. What came across is the opposite of what I wanted to say. I cannot apologise enough for my stupidity. I should have known better.
“But please be assured that I love, honour, value, respect and admire this wonderful club of ours. I am proud to think of all it does for cricket and I curse myself for the recent flurry of attention I have caused.
“All I seemed to do was to pick at a scab that was already healing. I am truly so very sorry.”