Greg James and former newsreader Chris Smith have apologised for “causing offence” with a comment about a Roald Dahl character with a glass eye.
The pair have co-written a book, The Twits Next Door, as part of a new series commissioned by the Roald Dahl Story Company, which they announced in a video posted to social media. In the video, they discussed ways to make the classic children’s characters “more disgusting”.
When illustrator Emily Jones suggested a glass eye, Smith replied: “That’s it. What a disgusting pair of Twits!”
Following widespread criticism across social media for the ableist undertones of their comments, the pair have said it was “absolutely not our intention” to cause upset.
“We are so sorry to have caused offence with the launch video. It was absolutely not our intention. And we apologise unreservedly. It’s now gone,” James began in a post on X/Twitter.
“We understand that words matter and we pride ourselves on championing and welcoming everyone into the magical world of children’s books. We would never dream of deliberately setting out to exclude anyone.
“With the glass eye comment, we were attempting to pay homage to one of the Twit’s most famous pranks involving a glass of beer in order to remind people of Dahl’s infamous terrible two. It’s in no way a suggestion that this forms any part of the plot of the new story nor was it our intention to suggest that it was in any way disgusting.
“It’s unfortunate that the word disgusting appears to be a direct comment on that. That’s an error on our part. We are devastated that it’s come across like this but completely understand why there is anger. And we appreciate everyone rightly calling it out.
He concluded: “We hear that fully, we’re so upset that we made a mistake but we’re still incredibly proud of this book and we’re excited to get out there and share it with young readers all over the world.”
Hello! Regarding our new Twits story announcement video from this morning:
We are so sorry to have caused offence with the launch video. It was absolutely not our intention. And we apologise unreservedly. It’s now gone. We understand that words matter and we pride ourselves on…
— Greg James (@gregjames) April 5, 2024
James and Smith’s comments had also been criticised by numerous disability charities, including the Royal National Institute of Blind People, who encouraged the pair to “talk to us about encouraging acceptance and understanding of disabilities”.
“When there’s positive representation of disabilities in children’s books, children with disabilities feel seen and heard, and their friends and classmates treat everyone the same.
“There is nothing at all revolting about prosthetic eyes, we think they’re brilliant.”
When there’s positive representation of disabilities in children’s books, children with disabilities feel seen and heard, and their friends and classmates treat everyone the same. There is nothing at all revolting about prosthetic eyes, we think they’re brilliant (1/2)
— RNIB (@RNIB) April 5, 2024
Meanwhile, charity Scope said: “Positive disability representation in kid’s books help improve attitudes and inclusion. So what can we expect of negative representation like this?”
In a video post, they added: “Greg and Chris, we know you can do better. The disabled community wants to help you get there.”
Positive disability representation in kid’s books help improve attitudes and inclusion.
So what can we expect of negative representation like this?@gregjames, Chris Smith and @PuffinBooks – consider the role you play in improving attitudes, especially towards disabled kids. pic.twitter.com/16GxG8elUW
— Scope (@scope) April 5, 2024
Smith and James’ book will see a new family called the Lovelies move in next door to The Twits, who devise a plan to get rid of their extraordinarily nice new neighbours. The Twits Next Door will be published in August.
Last year, the publisher Puffin announced that Dahl’s books were being edited to remove language deemed offensive in order to make sure the books “can continue to be enjoyed by all today”. Words such as “fat” and “ugly: have been completely removed and there have also been alterations made in relation to subjects such as gender, race and mental health.
