Ofcom has been hit with an astonishing 1,121 angry complaints over a Britain’s Got Talent segment that included an emotive dance routine inspired by Black Lives Matter.
The performance by former winners Diversity showed dancer Ashley Banjo acting out being arrested by a white police officer who, in a reenactment of the death of George Floyd earlier this year, kneeled on his neck while bandmates cried out, “I can’t breathe”.
Angry viewers quickly took to social media, with many accusing ITV producers of “politicising” Britain’s Got Talent.
Now it has been revealed that more than a thousand people complained to Ofcom over the performance. The watchdog is “yet to decide whether or not to investigate”.
Banjo has responded to criticism on Twitter, after he received “hate and ignorance” for his highly emotive routine.
He said: “So much to say… But I’ll Just let the performance talk. Thousands of messages of Love and support – Thank you. For the thousands of messages of hate and ignorance – Thank you. You highlight exactly what needs to change. Sending nothing but love to you all.”
He shared a quote by Martin Luther King Jr that read: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
Banjo added: “I’m so grateful and overwhelmed by all of the love and support but also by the amount of conversation this performance has thrown up. 2020 has been such a historical year. One day we will look back and realise it was the start of real change…
“Sending out nothing but love and positivity to everyone reading this post.”
An ITV spokesman told the Daily Mirror: ““Diversity’s performance offered their take on the extraordinary events of 2020 opening up important topics of conversation. The show was complied for a family audience.”
Related: The full list of Tory MPs who voted down the Grenfell Inquiry recommendations
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