Weinstein gag lands Strictly vicar in an unholy row

BBC presenter Reverend Richard Coles is renowned for his irreverent humour, but has he gone too far with his repartee?

The bespectacled vicar, who has fronted shows including Songs Of Praise and Newsnight Review and appeared as a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing last year, caused offence following an inappropriate joke on his social media account about the disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.

Posting a photograph of an Omelette Arnold Bennett that he had cooked, he then asked his followers to suggest other delicacies named after famous people. Coles, a regular presenter on Radio 4’s Saturday Live, added: ‘Hilarious made-up ones encouraged.’

Not amused by the names his followers suggested, Coles then made his own contribution to the debate.

‘Weinstein Legova,’ he wrote, referencing Weinstein, 66, who stands accused of rape and exploiting women. Opera director and theatre critic Robert Shaw was particularly upset by the post and took umbrage with the insensitive quip.

‘That’s really not funny in any way,’ he says. ‘ Someone in a prominent positon like you, if you choose to comment on this story, should condemn it not make a joke of it.

‘There’s nothing funny about what happened to these women.

‘I wonder, do the BBC know your thoughts on it?’

Shaw then complained twice to the BBC. The Corporation declined to get involved because Coles was not a member of staff and did not speak on behalf of the BBC.

Coles, 56, who was a member of the Communards pop group before becoming ordained and lives with his civil partner Reverend David Coles in a celibate relationship, later removed the offending post.

Shaw tells me: ‘I felt that their first reply to my complaint didn’t take the issue sufficiently seriously.

‘ This was just after the first publication of the Weinstein allegations. In that context, his comment seemed insensitive and ill-judged.’