Joe Lycett unveiled as ‘puppet master’ behind mysterious ‘Stop the Arts’ protests

Comedian and serial prankster Joe Lycett has been confirmed as the mastermind behind the mysterious “Stop the Arts” protests hitting UK “cultural hotspots” in recent weeks – and it’s all to do with his hosting of the Sky Arts Awards later this month and his cost-neutral proposals for arts funding dubbed the “Manifesto for the Arts”.

The artist - whose previous stunts have included planting fake news stories in the UK press, a “sewage spillage” at Liverpool Docks and “shredding” £10,000 in protest at David Beckham’s Qatar World Cup partnership – has confirmed he is behind the demonstrations, which saw mysterious individuals in purple hoodies protest outside venues such as London’s Shakespeare’s Globe with placards reading “s** off Shakespeare” and “Shakespeare is so 1616”.

The Globe told indy100 on Thursday that “a group protesting was moved on from the Globe within five minutes” and that “all activity on-site continued as normal”.

We also reached out to the protest group directly, and they issued a statement which read: “Art is complete. Everything that can be done, has been done.

“We’re calling for an immediate cessation of all artistic activity. Painters, lay down your brushes. Novelists, step away from your Word documents. Musicians, put your musical instruments back in their cases. Poets – I mean they’re barely doing anything anyway.

“You are right, we have stopped theatre at The Globe. We have stopped visual art at The Ikon Gallery and Warwick Art Centre. We have stopped opera at the Birmingham Hippodrome. We have stopped classical music at The Glasshouse ICM.

“At a protest early this morning a member of the public said that ‘you dress like a bunch of clowns because you ARE a bunch of clowns’. We can confirm that we are NOT a bunch of clowns.

“Stop The Arts, now.”

However, as pictures and footage circulated on social media, it wasn’t long before people started to suspect this might be the workings of the Late Night Lycettstar:

Others, meanwhile, slammed the message behind the mysterious stunt as “stupid” and “nonsense”:

indy100 approached Lycett’s team for comment about the rumours before his social media announcement, but did not receive a response.

Instead, we received confirmation from Sky earlier this afternoon that Lycett was behind the stunt, who was using it to promote his involvement with their upcoming ceremony and the importance of the arts instead – how subversive!

Lycett said in a statement: “Over the last few weeks I've been meeting with arts organisations, venues and artists to devise my Manifesto for the Arts, with clear and actionable points the Government can do right now to improve conditions for everyone working in Britain’s cultural industries.”

He added in an Instagram video: "So does this mean Stop the Arts isn't real? Of course it's not real.

"Who needs a protest group going around stopping the arts when successive governments have been doing everything they can to bring art to a standstill?"

It comes as the industry faces “funding cuts, rising unemployment and growing disparity”.

The manifesto itself will be delivered on awards night on 17 September, where prizes will be handed out to talent across classical music, comedy, dance, film, literature, opera, poetry, popular music, television, theatre and visual arts.

“I’m very much looking forward to dragging this high-brow event down into the gutter,” Lycett added.

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