A show by one of the most outlandish antisemitic conspiracy theorists in Europe at the stadium of leading English soccer team Manchester United was abruptly canceled on Friday, after a Jewish group protested to club authorities.
David Icke — a former BBC sports presenter who now enjoys a cult following for his stories of “shapeshifting reptilian” Jews controlling the global economy — had been due to appear at a $200 per ticket event entitled “An Evening With David Icke” at United’s renowned Old Trafford ground. Icke booked a meeting room at the club through an associate who did not divulge the nature of the event.
A spokesperson for Manchester United confirmed on Friday that the booking had been made “by a junior member of staff who was unaware of Icke and his objectionable views.”
“The event has been cancelled,” the spokesperson said.
Icke’s planned presence at the stadium of the 20-times champions of English soccer was first revealed by the UK Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA). A posting on the group’s website described Icke as “a modern-day antisemitic hate preacher who uses social media, his books and his stage performances to incite hatred towards Jewish people.”
“His preaching is so absurd that since the 1990s he has been dismissed as a crank, but because he is dismissed there has been no major opposition to him and he has built up a following of thousands upon thousands of disciples whom he has persuaded to adamantly believe that the world is in the grip of a conspiracy run by the ‘Rothschild Zionists,’” the CAA noted.
Following the cancellation of Icke’s event, the CAA joined other groups on social media applauding the decision. Icke, meanwhile, denounced Manchester United as a “disgrace to freedom,” complaining that the club had been “intimidated” by an “ultra-Zionist hate group.”
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