Liam Gallagher has appeared to reference a racial slur that the singer made in a deleted social media post during Oasis’s second sold-out concert at Manchester’s Heaton Park.
Before playing the band’s 1995 hit “Some Might Say”, Gallagher made a comment about the sunglasses that he was wearing, having chosen not to wear anything to protect his eyes during the searing heat of Friday’s gig.
The 52-year-old said: “Gotta wear the shades tonight, didn’t wear them last night, woke up this morning like a grasshopper? You’re allowed to say grasshopper, right?”
Earlier this month, Gallagher sparked outrage when he shared a term on X/Twitter often used to mock people of Chinese origin or those perceived to be Chinese.
Fans immediately replied that he couldn’t use the word because it was “racist”.
Gallagher responded: “Behave.” To one fan who told the musician that he might “get cancelled today”, he said: “Whatever.”
To another, he replied: “It’s an ancient thought process, get on it.”
Gallagher eventually deleted the post and issued a short apology. “Sorry if I offended anyone with my tweet before, it wasn’t intentional, you know I love you all and I do not discriminate,” he posted. “Peace and love.”
The use of the slur was seen frequently during the Covid pandemic when anti-Asian hate crimes surged globally, fuelled by racist rhetoric and misinformation.
Oasis’s triumphant homecoming gig follows on from their shows at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, where they kicked off their reunion tour on 4 July.
After Manchester, Oasis will visit London’s Wembley Stadium, Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium, and Dublin’s Croke Park throughout July, August and September.
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The Oasis reunion tour was announced in August last year, decades after Noel quit the band after a backstage brawl at the Rock en Seine festival in Paris in 2009.
While fans were thrilled at the news, some were left outraged after a number of standard tickets in the UK and Ireland jumped from £148 to £355.
The controversy prompted the Government and the UK’s competition watchdog to pledge to look at the use of dynamic pricing.
Liam Gallagher made a controversial joke over the ticket pricing scandal on the first night of their tour, asking the crowd: “You having a good time, yeah? Is it worth the £40,000 you paid for the ticket?”
