Boss behind ‘sick’ Shannon Matthews musical slams ‘Karens’ and says follow Ed Sheeran

The man behind a new controversial musical movie about the bonkers Shannon Matthews case ripped into his critics.

Singer songwriter K**t – from K**t and the Gang – told “Mumsnet Karens” to stick to Ed Sheeran, Candy Crush and Mrs Brown’s Boys if they wanted to avoid offence.

The artist – whose hits include Shannon Ain’t Dead (She’s Under My Bed) – spoke to the Daily Star after his production was branded “sick and bang out of order”.

Shannon Matthews: The Musical was first performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2022 and it pokes fun at the bizarre supposed disappearance of nine-year-old Shannon in 2008.

A film version will be released on Amazon in November and responding to the backlash, K**t told us: “This country has always had large swathes of the population who seem to be just waiting for something to get offended about.

“I don’t know what it is about setting something to music that gets people’s backs up, but I guess it’s good for them to have something to focus on now and then, otherwise they’d only be sat around playing Candy Crush.”

He added: “Having seen some of the reactions from people who haven’t seen it, I am dreading what they would say if they actually did. But then if, like a lot of people, you’ve been spoonfed a diet of tepid diarrhoea like Mrs Brown’s Boys and Ed Sheeran, anything a bit different or challenging will be hard to digest.”

A huge manhunt was sparked in Dewsesbury, West Yorks, when Shannon supposedly disappeared, which led to her mum Karen Matthews making desperate appeals for her return.

But the little girl was found alive three weeks later in the home of Michael Donovan, the uncle of Karen Matthew’s then boyfriend. It was revealed that the pair hatched the evil plot to pocket the £50,000 reward money.

Now, 16 years on, the K**t and the Gang film description reads: “West Yorkshire’s worst case of absolute stupidity is brought to the silver screen for the very first time. You can now split your sides at a comedy, about a drama, that once split the population of Dewsbury.”

Essex-based K**t said his favourite song from it is Shannon Ain’t Dead – saying it is too ridiculous to be offensive.

And asked what he would like viewers to take away from seeing it, he added: “I’d like people who watch it to enjoy the fact that what you get given by the TV programmers isn’t all there is.

“Outside the same dozen faces you see on TV most nights of the week, there are thousands of talented people out there that they have never heard of, who make comedy, music and art because that is what they love doing.

“We crowdfunded this film independently with 611 backers, so for me the dream is for people to see this one and think, ‘I’d like to see more stuff like that’ and get involved in our next one.”

But as for those who have already made up their minds, he said: “If you don’t like something, you can turn it off. For me, if you find something funny then throw your head back and laugh at it, whatever it is.

“There’s plenty of time afterwards to discuss whether it was ok or not. If everyone worried about upsetting people whenever they made something, then we’d live in a world with magnolia walls soundtracked by Coldplay.”

Some critics claimed the film should never have been made and Dewsbury West councillor Amma Anwar previously said: “The musical is sick and bang out of order. Imagine being that poor lass Shannon and reliving these cruel and sadistic moments again.”

And asked how much more outrage he expects to generate when the film is released on November 15, K**t concluded: “Hopefully a bit more.

“The hardest thing when you are an independent artist is getting people to find out about your work, so a load of old rotters kicking up a fuss on internet message boards is definitely better that it being ignored.”