G-A-Y boss defends Sarah Harding tribute night after being accused of ‘cashing in’ on her death
Sarah Harding at the National Film Awards UK in 2018. (Mike Marsland/WireImage)
The owner of the G-A-Y nightclubs has been slammed over a Sarah Harding tribute night where just £1 of the cover charge goes to a cancer charity.
Harding, 39, tragically died of breast cancer Sunday (5 September), touching off an outpouring of grief and tributes to the pop star.
Among them was Jeremy Joseph, who owns the popular LGBT+ nightclubs G-A-Y and Heaven.
He announced on Twitter Tuesday afternoon (7 September) that Heaven will host a Girls Aloud night next Saturday with a fundraiser for the Macmillan Cancer Support.
Saturday 18th September@HeavenLGBTclub
A @macmillancancer Fundraiser
G-A-Y Pays Tribute To @SarahNHarding 💔
Goal is to raise £5000
You can donate at https://t.co/znqsVa3v6i
Celebrating Her Life With Hits Of GIRLS ALOUD played with Saturday dance floor fillers pic.twitter.com/VQyp1JoJrO
— Jeremy Joseph G-A-Y (@JeremyJoseph) September 7, 2021
“G-A-Y Pays Tribute to Sarah Harding,” a promotional poster decorated with broken heart emojis shared by Joseph states. “Celebrating The Hits of Girls ALOUD.”
“Get £3 Entry Wrist Bands From G-A-Y Bar plus £1 Donation to Macmillian Cancer Support.”
“Goal is to raise £5,000,” Joseph tweeted, sharing a link to a Virgin Money Giving page for the “G-A-Y 65 Mile Challenge”.
Jeremy Joseph defends £1 charity donation for Sarah Harding night
On his Instagram page, Joseph added: “Girls Aloud first ever show was at G-A-Y as part of Popstars The Rivals.
“Throughout their career, the girls have always been loyal to G-A-Y.
“So we are celebrating Her Life With The Hits Of GIRLS ALOUD played throughout the night with Saturday dance floor fillers.”
The club night, however, was met with backlash online, with some calling the event “disingenuous” over the move to donate £1 to charity instead of the full entry fee.
Club-goers queue to get in to Heaven nightclub. (Rob Pinney/Getty Images)
“How about 100 per cent of the entry goes to charity,” one Twitter user wrote.
“Nice idea,” another added, “but the entire door entry should be donated.”
“Cashing in on somebody’s death!!? Disgusting,” a user fumed.
An Instagram user said: “All money should go to charity. The charity has seen a 600 per cent rise in people reaching [out following the death of Sarah Harding].
“Do the right thing and donate ALL proceeds to the charity to help them fight this illness. I am pretty sure if we suggested only paying a fraction of your entry fee we would be turned away.”
Joseph defended the night, replying to the user on Instagram: “Read what is written.
“The goal is to raise over £5,000, we are only asking £1 per customer, the rest will come from G-A-Y and hopefully, it will be more than £5,000.
“Of course, you can donate here at virginmoneygiving.com/fund.65Miles65Grants.”
PinkNews contacted G-A-Y for comment.
