January 11, 2001 17:47

THE FILTH AND THE FURY

Apparently the 'Jesus Is A C**t' shirts provoked a lot of complaints...

A record shop in GLASGOW was subject to a police raid last week and forced to remove T-shirts by shock-rock band CRADLE OF FILTH from sale after they were deemed to be offensive.

Following complaints from members of the public over the 'Jesus Is A Cunt' shirts, the police went into the Tower Records store on Argyle Street on Friday afternoon (January 4) and demanded the shirts be immediately removed from the shelves.

On the same day the Lord Provost of Glasgow staged a press conference outside the shop. Reading from a prepared statement he condemned Tower Records for carrying the T-shirt, adding: "I have written to the head of Tower Records to convey my disgust and to underline that material like this must not be put on sale again."

However, a spokesperson for Tower told NME.COM that because they believed they were not acting illegally, they put the T-shirts back on sale on Saturday (January 13). And thanks to the intense local media flurry the story generated, the shop's entire stock (over two dozen) of the T-shirts sold out.

It is not the first time the T-Shirt has caused outrage amongst the moral majority.

/media/images/COFLordProvast_L.jpg ) deemed the matter "not in the public interest".

During the same year, the band's former drummer Nicholas Barker was arrested by police in Dover for wearing the shirt. After spending a night in the cell, he was made remove the shirt.

In 1999 the Catholic League of New York also stepped into the debate. The League's President William A. Donoghue, urged that the T-shirt, which also features the image of a nun masturbating, be withdrawn from production and distribution.

"It's a revolting Vestal Master T-Shirt, depicting a topless
nun masturbating, along with a vile insult to Jesus, calling him a vulgar
term for female genitalia," he said.