Comedian-actor Stephen Fry is being investigated by Irish police over blasphemy claims more than two years after his outspoken comments about God on a show aired on Ireland's state broadcaster, RTE.
Fry described a hypothetical creator as “stupid” and an “utter maniac” for designing a world filled with undue suffering, reported Irish Independent.
Asked in 2015 by the programme's host, Gay Byrne, what he would say to God if he arrived at the pearly gates of heaven, the 59-year-old actor had replied, “I'd say, bone cancer in children? What's that about? ”How dare you? How dare you create a world to which there is such misery that is not our fault? It's not right, it's utterly, utterly evil.
“Why should I respect a capricious, mean-minded, stupid god who creates a world that is so full of injustice and pain? The god who created this universe, if it was created by god, is quite clearly a maniac, an utter maniac, totally selfish,” he had said.
A Gardai spokeswoman said, “We're not commenting on an ongoing investigation.”
The comments were originally reported to police in 2015.
The complainant is said to have followed up last year, and received a phone call from a detective some weeks ago to discuss the case.