The Quiet One was set to screen at the event in June…
Sheffield Documentary Festival has pulled a screening of a film about former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman.
The Quiet One was among the festival’s most high-profile offerings for the 2019 event, where it was due to be screened alongside a Q&A session with Wyman himself and the film’s director Oliver Murray.
Both events have now been pulled after detractors singled out Wyman’s relationship with his second wife Mandy Smith.
The legendary guitarist met Smith when she was just 13, and he was 47. While the pair married in 1989 when she was 18 and Wyman was 52, Smith later alleged that they first had sex when she was just 14.
Posting on Facebook, one user wrote: “Someone that started a sexual relationship with a child and then groomed her enough to get her to marry him? Gross. I’ll pass.”
POST EDIT:Sheffield Doc/Fest has decided to cancel screenings of The Quiet One and the associated Q&A with Oliver…
Posted by Sheffield Doc/Fest on Tuesday, March 19, 2019
Another said: “Think you need to think about the consequences of having a sexual predator promote your festival because in my eyes and many more people’s eyes it’s not good!“
“Imagine thinking it’s worth listening to a sexual predator who preys on teenage girls,” another added.
While the screening has been cancelled, Wyman has never been arrested or charged with any offences and previously said that he volunteered to be interviewed by police.
“I went to the police and I went to the public prosecutor and said, ‘Do you want to talk to me? Do you want to meet up with me, or anything like that?’ and I got a message back, ‘No,’” he said. “I was totally open about it.”
The organisers of Sheffield Documentary Festival added: “We truly appreciate you alerting us to the issue. It has been passed on to our management who are taking this very seriously.”
Wyman was the main bassist with the Rolling Stones until his retirement in 1993. He has since made a handful of comeback cameo performances – including a brief stint during a show at London’s O2 Arena in 2012.
