BGT cleared over dance for George Floyd – in face of 25,000 complaints
OFCOM will not investigate a Black Lives Matter-inspired dance routine on Britain’s Got Talent – as it does not consider it to be ‘racist towards white people’.
Diversity’s performance on the ITV show has sparked almost 2 ,000 complaints to the broadcasting watchdog since it aired nearly two weeks ago.
The routine saw a figure representing a white police officer kneel on dancer Ashley Banjo. This echoed the killing of George Floyd, a black man, in the US which sparked protests in the summer.
Viewers said the themes of violence and racism were unsuitable for family viewing, that it supported the political organisation Black Lives Matter – and that it was racist towards white people.
But the regulator said the routine, which it described as ‘symbolic of recent global events’, did not raise any issues which warranted investigation under its broadcasting rules.
A spokesman for Ofcom said: ‘Diversity’s performance referred to challenging and potentially controversial subjects and, in our view, its central message was a call for social cohesion and unity.’
Diversity won BGT in 2009. Their routine is close to becoming the most complained-about TV moment of the decade.
In 2018, an episode of Celebrity Big Brother garnered 2 ,327 complaints when ex-Emmerdale actress Roxanne Pallett alleged that she had been assaulted by fellow housemate and exCoronation Street actor Ryan Thomas.
ITV said earlier this week that it ‘stands behind the decision to broadcast Diversity’s performance on BGT’.