The public face of a homelessness support campaign known only as "John", a homeless man from London, has been dropped by The Guardian after readers complained that he did not notice them as they passed him in the street.
"John's" campaign in the paper involved a small appearance around page 4 followed by a larger appearance later on in which he complained that the reader had not noticed his earlier appearance. However, numerous accusations of double standards and hypocrisy against him have now left this campaign in tatters.
"I walked past him on my way to Court this morning," complained Charlene Hewitt, a commercial litigation solicitor from Kensington, "but he didn't notice me at all. He just seemed to stare off into the middle distance with a despairing expression on his face. What sort of way is that to behave after making me feel guilty all these years?"
In a statement realised today, The Guardian confirmed that they had dropped him from future editions due to complaints made by readers, which included allegations that, rather than noticing passers-by, he appeared to be "sullen", "arrogant" and "lying immobile as if he was dead from exposure or something."
