CORRIE RACE STORM OVER SL AVE JOKE
ITV pull ‘offensive’ show from catch-up
CORONATION Street bosses have been forced into a race row apology after actress Catherine Tyldesley’s dippy character Eva Price compared the dark roots in her blonde hair to famous TV slave Kunta Kinte.
CORRIE bosses last night apologised after sparking a race storm on the hit soap.
Hundreds of viewers complained about a scene where Catherine Tyldesley’s character Eva Price compared the dark roots in her blonde hair to a fictional slave.
She visited The Street’s salon and told hairdresser Audrey Roberts, played by Sue Nicholls: “I have more roots than Kunta Kinte. No idea who that is, by the way, just something my mum used to say.”
Kinte was the main character from the best-selling novel Roots, written by Alex Haley.
The US author claimed he was based on one of his ancestors who lived in West Africa in the 1750s and was enslaved then taken to America to be sold on to a plantation owner.
Offensive
Roots was turned into a hit BBC One TV drama which was watched by 19 million people back in 1977. After the Corrie episode aired on Bank Holiday Monday, viewers slammed ITV for letting an “offensive” comment be broadcast. TV watchdog Ofcom had 278 complaints about the remark. A spokesman said: “We will assess these complaints before we decide whether to investigate or not.” Yesterday ITV decided to remove the episode from its ® catch-up service ITV Player due to the race row. But fans are still angry that the line was allowed to go out.
One wrote on Twitter: “I know the BBC are bringing back a lot of 70s sitcoms but that doesn’t mean ITV have to bring back racism.”
Another commented: “How did these offensive words get past all the people that should have been aware of their historical content?”
One fan added: “I’m actually stunned you think that is acceptable broadcast something so racist.”
But others called it “a storm in a tea cup”, claiming it was just a comedic comment.
One said: “The people overreacting need to get over it.”
And another remarked: “Humour is verboten these days.”