Fry replied: "We fear that it's going to happen more and more because America leads and Britain follows in all kinds of ways." Stephen Fry has caused a social media furore after he said in a US interview that victims of rape should "grow up" and not feel sorry for themselves. Credit:The Rubin Report/YouTube He put it down to "deep infantilism" in today's society, saying that people "can't bear complexity". "The ideas that things aren't easy to understand... They want to be told, or they want to be able to decide and say, 'this is good, and this is bad,' and anything that conflicts with that is not to be borne," Fry said.

At first, Fry used an example of a controversial statue of Cecil Rhodes at Oriel college, Oxford, which campaigners wanted removed because they believed the British imperialist's legacy should not be celebrated. He then moved on to the example of rape in culture. "There are many great plays which contain rapes, and the word rape now is even considered a rape," he said. "To say the word rape is to rape." The former QI presenter appeared on the Rubin Report with Dave Rubin when he made the comments, that many have argued have been taken out of context. Credit:The Rubin Report/You Tube "They're terrible things and they have to be thought about, clearly, but if you say you can't watch this play, you can't watch Titus Andronicus, or you can't read it in a Shakespeare class, or you can't watch Macbeth because it's got children being killed in it, it might trigger something when you were young that upset you once, because uncle touched you in a nasty place, well I'm sorry. "It's a great shame and we're all very sorry that your uncle touched you in that nasty place, you get some of my sympathy, but your self pity gets none of my sympathy."

He added: "Self pity is the ugliest emotion in humanity. Get rid of it, because no one's going to like you if you feel sorry for yourself. The irony is we'll feel sorry for you, if you stop feeling sorry for yourself. Just grow up." A debate on his comments ensued with some calling them "moronic", while others asked for them not to be taking out of context.

The British comic "quit" Twitter earlier this year following the backlash from a joke he made while hosting the British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards in February. The actor, who has hosted the BAFTAs for 15 years and had more than 12 million Twitter followers, came under fire after referring to Mad Max: Fury Road costume designer Jenny Beavan's appearance. "Only one of the great cinematic costume designers would come to an awards ceremony dressed as a bag lady," he said. After being lambasted on the social media platform for his "misogynistic" remarks he fired back at critics. "Will all you sanctimonious f--kers f--k the f--k off Jenny Beavan is a friend and joshing is legitimate. Christ I want to leave the planet," he said.

Beavan herself has hosed down the controversy saying she was not offended by Fry's remark. "Yes we are friends, and I am absolutely not upset, but I don't want to talk any further because if I talk about it it will just create more fuss," she told The Telegraph.