Stan Boardman has suddenly been removed from the line up at a literary festival over concerns regarding his past comedy material and has been left upset by the decision
22:09, 27 Feb 2026Updated 22:14, 27 Feb 2026
Stan Boardman has been removed from the line up of a festival because his comedy has now been deemed offensive (Image: Evening Gazette)
Stan Boardman has revealed his “upset” after being pulled from the line up of a festival. The comedian, 88, who appeared on numerous classic programmes like in the Through the Keyhole and was the subject of This Is Your Life at the height of his fame in the 1980s and 1990s, was due to appear at the Liverpool Book Festival at BOXPARK on March 8.
He had been due to talk about his autobiography, but it emerged in a email that organisers had decided to remove him from the billing after “feedback from the public regarding past material that has been considered inappropriate or offensive.”
The star, who initially found fame on Opportunity Knocks and became known for claiming that “the Germans bombed our chippy” during World War II has been left confused by the sudden decision to axe him from the event.
READ MORE: Ricky Gervais hits back as he’s accused of ‘moaning over being cancelled’ in Netflix specialREAD MORE: Comedian Russell Kane speaks out on cancel culture: ‘I’m not woke, I’m just not ignorant’
The star is said to have been left ‘upset’ by the decision(Image: Daily Mirror)
Stan’s son Paul, who helped him write the memoir, told the Echo: “We’ve written to them and asked, ‘How many emails? What was said and when was it sent? What was the context?’ We’d love to know that.
“Given the fact Stan has been used to promote the event throughout, that’s the very least we could ask for. Then we can defend it. We can say, ‘OK, who is the person? Does it justify the decision? We don’t shy away from that at all in the book.
Ensure our latest headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as your Preferred Source in your Google search settings
“Stan shows a lot of contrition regarding that saying he never would have thought he was hurting people and would never go out intentionally to hurt somebody’s feelings on stage. I think a lot of comics back then, a lot of people in the 70s, weren’t that educated about it.
Paul went on to insist that while his dad might have been known for his near-the-knuckle style of comedy, it wasn’t as bad as some might think.
Stan’s son Paul has spoken out on the matter (Image: Sunday ECHO)
He added: “I was interested to know when I spoke to my dad about it when I interviewed him for the book. I said, ‘Look, how do you feel about some of the jokes?’ My dad wasn’t a Bernard Manning. He never used the n-word.
“He wasn’t like that. OK, he would do jokes about the Germans, but we all know now that he’s got a good reason to have a little bit of fun at the Germans. It’s never in a nasty way. He loves German people. He spent national service there!”
According to Paul, his father appeared at the event last year without any problem, noting that it is a “brilliant” thing for their home city and it has just caused a lot of “upset” to the family that he will no longer be there.
Join The Mirror’s WhatsApp Community or follow us on Google News, Flipboard, Apple News, TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads – or visit The Mirror homepage.