Humiliation Brit-ual

Written by Marco Lehman

Art Direction by Abigail Owen

Many critiques have been wagered against Jack Whitehall’s comedy, particularly so on his big night – hosting the Brits. One would think, after being on the receiving end of, in my opinion, very valid criticisms, that he would have polished around the ‘rougher’ edges of his comedy. Take, for example, in 2019, when he told the audience, “Dads up and down the country [are] awkwardly fumbling for a scatter cushion right now” after Little Mix’s performance garnered Ofcom complaints and online backlash for its blatant misogyny and objectification of the artists. Now a solo artist, JADE had noticeable eye rolls at multiple of Jack’s comments, and in fact, after her departure from Little Mix, she addressed many issues within the industry in her first solo studio album “THAT’S SHOWBIZ BABY!” which earned her ‘Best Pop Act’ at last year’s 2025 Brits ceremony.

It seems, however, that little has changed for the comedian as the Brits made their way up to Manchester for the first time this weekend.

Whitehall poked a jab at Moss Side (jesting that an all expenses covered stint at the Premier Inn there would be enough to entice American artists who do not usually make the event when awarded), joked about Stone Island and how the weekend would be great for drug dealers in the city (the classism bursting through the seams) and stated that “Manc” is essentially a different language (before imitating artist Rosalía’s accent in front of her face). The entire ordeal left a bad taste in my mouth, particularly when one considers his own privileged background- having attended a prestigious independent boarding school in London.

I am certainly not a believer in any sanitisation of comedy; however, I do believe context is important and punching down is never an acceptable form of comedy. In fact, punching down, particularly in our current climate of the increasing grasp that the alt-right is trying to exercise in working-class communities, is incredibly grotesque and out-of-touch.

The pairing of Whitehall’s problematic strain of comedy alongside

ITV’s consistent censoring of references to subjects such as Palestine and ICE throughout the evening raises incredible concern. I cannot stress enough how this should be taken incredibly seriously, and the combination of comedy at the expense of working-class communities with this kind of censorship is a slippery slope into fascism and alt-right politics. It is also worth noting that whilst I have focused on Whitehall here, he is emblematic of a larger class dynamic within the industry. I am positive that much more will be written on this in the coming weeks, so I will leave the full political analysis here to those writers and educators who will fully understand the implications of this. I urge you to listen to them.  

With my critiques highlighted, I would love to end here on a more optimistic note, as it is evident hope is our strongest tool for resistance in this new era of politics- as exampled in the Green Party’s historic win in Gorton and Denton (only days before the Brits) with the election of Hannah Spencer, the first ever Green MP to be elected in the North of England. They ran their campaign on this very notion of hope in the face of adversity.

Ellie Rowsell of Wolf Alice, whilst accepting their second win for Group of the Year, gave an impassioned speech on the importance of championing artists from all backgrounds and the integral nature of independent music venues, not only as cultural hubs but as a viable and necessary producer of capital for the industry.

Olivia Dean, who has spoken candidly previously about the fact that she is a proud granddaughter of immigrant grandparents, swept four awards. Dean dedicated her song Carmen to her Granny Carmen, a celebration of the Windrush Generation.

Sam Fender, who has loudly championed working-class communities, particularly in the North-East, also took home two awards. Fender has celebrated his wins in the past by taking it right back home to the Low Lights Tavern in North Shields – his first Brit was turned into a pump for the bar.

And as previously stated, despite the attempt at censorship from ITV, multiple artists such as Max Bassin of Geese called for a free Palestine. Scottish singer-songwriter Jacob Alon held up a Palestinian keffiyeh during Sharon Osbourne’s speech (Osbourne is an explicit supporter of Israel).

It is clear that the UK has a lot to be proud of in terms of the artists that it’s capable of producing – a diverse range of talent from all backgrounds highlighted a number of prominent social issues; it is a shame that the event as a whole could not have engaged meaningfully with any discourse (and it fact actively erased it from its programming, whilst a privately educated wealthy white man ran the evening with little interruption). The conclusion here is evident – listen to artists, especially when you are being discouraged from doing so. They and we deserved better than the humiliation Brit-ual we received.