What racist remarks has Eric Clapton allegedly made?

Publish date: 2024-05-09

ERIC Clapton's past has come back to haunt him after allegedly racist remarks he made during a 1976 concert resurfaced.

The Brit singer has come under fire ever since he released a controversial anti-lockdown tune with fellow sceptic Van Morrison.

What racist remarks has Eric Clapton allegedly made?

Eric Clapton's most famous rant took place during a 1976 show in Birmingham, UK, where he told concert-goers to support the British anti-immigration conservative politician Enoch Powell.

Powell is one of the most divisive politicians in UK political history and is best known for his 1968 "Rivers of Blood" speech that heaped blame for the country's economic and social woes of the time on migrants.

Clapton's alleged racist remarks were dredged out by English radio presenter Jameela Jamil during a rant about his latest song.

Jamil shared a screengrab of a transcript of the moment an "extremely drunk" Clapton asked "foreigners" to raise their hands and leave his show.

"Not just leave the hall, leave our country... I don't want you here, in the room or in my country," he said in part.

"The Black w**s and c***s and Arabs and f***ing Jamaicans don't belong here, we don't want them here," Clapton added on stage then, using blatant racist slurs.

"This is England, this is a white country, we don't want any Black w**s and c***s living here. We need to make clear to them they are not welcome."

The rocker claimed England was "a white country" made "for white people" and bellowed out the facist party's "Keep Britain White" slogan.

The comments helped inspire the Rock Against Racism movement in the late 1970s.

In 2007, he again showed his support for Powell and denied the British politician was a racist.

In 2018, the guitarist apologised and addressed his comments during a documentary on his life.

He described himself at the time as having been a "full-tilt racist" and admitted: "I did really offensive things. I was a nasty person .

"I think it was based on the Arabic invasion.

"There was this sort of air of this in the early 70s. I'm not excusing myself. It was an awful thing to do.

"I think it's funny actually."

He told the Daily Mail he was a "semi-racist" during his early career and is "so ashamed" of who he was.

Clapton battled drug and alcohol addiction during his career, which led to the breakdown of his marriages and strained his professional career.

He has now been sober for 30 years.

What other controversial remarks has Eric Clapton made?

Clapton made headlines for his anti-lockdown and anti-vax views during the coronavirus pandemic.

The guitaring legend described taking the AstraZeneca jab as "disastrous" after complaining his hands and feet were "either frozen, numb of burning" for two weeks.

Clapton admits he suffers with peripheral neuropathy, which causes the pains he described.

The UK Government said side effects from the AstraZeneca vaccine could be "mild to moderate in nature" and are expected to pass after a few days.

The least common side effects include abdominal pain, dizziness, loss in appetite, enlarged lymph nodes and excessive sweating, itchy skin or rash.

Clapton is a well-known Covid sceptic and often shares fellow anti-lockdown supporters' material.

Clapton wrote: "I’ve been a rebel all my life, against tyranny and arrogant authority, which is what we have now, but I also crave fellowship, compassion and love, and that I find here.

"I believe with these things we can prevail."

The 76-year-old released an anti-lockdown single with Van Morrison called Stand and Deliver in 2020 and garnered a slew of negative press.

In it, the retired rocker says: "Do you wanna be a free man / Or do you wanna be a slave? / Do you wanna wear these chains / Until you’re lying in the grave?"

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Clapton told Variety he supported Van's anti-lockdown stance and said it was "deeply upsetting" to see live events cancelled due to Covid restrictions.

Read More on The US Sun

"There are many of us who support Van and his endeavors to save live music; he is an inspiration," Clapton told the outlet.

Clapton's racist remarks resurfaced soon after the song's release.

Official Trailer for Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars

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