Lily Allen has said she turned down the chance to take part in Band Aid 30 because she thinks the premise behind the charity single is “a bit smug”.
The 29-year-old singer told the Mail on Sunday’s Event magazine that Sir Bob Geldof had asked her to join him and stars including Bono, Coldplay’s Chris Martin and One Direction in recording a new version of Do They Know It’s Christmas? in aid of the effort against the Ebola virus in West Africa.
Lily said: “I got an email asking me to do it. It’s difficult to explain why I didn’t do it without sounding like a complete c***.
“I prefer to do my charitable bit by donating actual money and not being lumped in with a bunch of people like that.
“It’s like the ‘success club’ and I’m not really in that club. I don’t think I’m above it all – I’m way below it. But there’s something a bit smug about it.”
The Smile singer insisted she wasn’t worried about offending Sir Bob.
She added: “I actually don’t mind Bob. He doesn’t give a shit and he’s grumpy like me.”
Lily’s comments comes after Emeli Sande said the Band Aid song needs rewriting and apologised if the latest version “caused offence”.
The star, who was involved in the latest remake of Do They Know It’s Christmas?, posted a message on Twitter in which she said lyrics she and African artist Angelique Kidjo recorded did not make the final version.
There have been some complaints over the song’s content, with some of the lyrics changed to reflect the Ebola crisis in West Africa.
The reworked version of Do They Know It’s Christmas?, which shot straight to No 1, features stars including One Direction, Bono and Ellie Goulding, and is expected to raise millions to help fight the Ebola crisis.
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