Bob Geldof tells BBC to ‘wise up’ during interview with Zoe Ball
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Bob Geldof, 71, is famous for his charity work that has helped to raise hundreds of millions of pounds for causes such as the famine in Africa and most recently the war in Ukraine. Most notably, the musician organised the charity supergroup, Band Aid, and the Live Aid concerts.
He co-wrote the iconic song Do They Know It’s Christmas in 1984, which is one of the biggest selling singles of all time and helped to raise £8m within a year for Ethiopia.
Despite winning numerous awards and honours, Bob’s humanitarian efforts have not gone down as well with some.
Along with other white activists, Bob has been accused of perpetuating a ‘white saviour’ complex.
The negative term is used to criticise a white person who is depicted as rescuing people of colour from a position of superiority.
Bob is not the only well-known face who has been tarred with the stereotype.
Back in 2019, Stacey Dooley was criticised when she was pictured cradling an African child while filming a piece for Comic Relief.
The photograph touched a nerve for Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy who tweeted: “The world does not need any more white saviours… it perpetuates tired and unhelpful stereotypes.”
In a new interview, Bob was asked whether he believes this kind of criticism has led to activists consciously trying to avoid such descriptions.
He told Radio Times: “I don’t think most people give a f*** about that.
“It’s just a wormhole that people have disappeared down, where everything can be deconstructed. But it’s trite and silly, in my view.
“If someone is hurt and I personally see it, and I’m aware of it, I’ll do what I can to make them less hurt.
“Black saviours, white saviours, green saviours, brown saviours, I’m with them all.”
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Bob previously raged about white saviour allegations back in 2020, branding them as “nonsense”.
The Boomtown Rats frontman told the Daily Star: “I couldn’t give a f*** – it’s nonsense. I work every day on Band Aid, so go f*** yourself!
“Criticise ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ as a sh** pop song or whatever. But saying lines like: ‘There won’t be snow in Africa this Christmas time’, aren’t right?
“Well, there won’t be snow in Antarctic or Africa this Christmas – Extinction Rebellion will tell you that, so spare me.”
Despite those who may criticise Bob, he has received many awards for his fund-raising work over the decades.
Back in 1986, he was made an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth.
He also received a Man of Peace Award in 2005 and a Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music.
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