Ofcom won’t take action over ‘white balcony’ remark
BRIDGERTON star Adjoa Andoh’s description of the Buckingham Palace balcony as ‘terribly white’ during the Coronation will not be investigated further by Ofcom.
The broadcasting watchdog confirmed yesterday that it received 8,371 complaints from viewers about Andoh’s remarks during the live ITV broadcast from London on May 6.
Ofcom said it accepted viewers had ‘strong feelings’ about her comments, but it was a ‘personal observation’ in a ‘wide-ranging panel discussion which also touched on other diversity-related topics, and which contained a range of viewpoints’. The incident is the most complained-about TV moment of the year so far and prompted an apology from the actress, who plays Lady Agatha Danbury in the hit Netflix show.
Ms Andoh, 60, said: ‘Looking at all those young people, there is a bit of me that has gone from the rich diversity of the abbey to the terribly white balcony. I’m very struck by that. I am also looking at those younger generations and thinking: What are the nuances that they will inhabit when they grow?’
She appeared on BBC Radio 4 the following day to clarify her comments and apologise. She said: ‘I upset a few people yesterday. I was talking about the day and how marvellous it was and then looking at the balcony at the end and suddenly going: “Oh it’s so white!” because the day had been so mixed and I didn’t mean to upset anybody.’
The second most complained about moment of the year so far was a comment on the Jeremy Vine Show about junior doctors, which attracted more than 2,250 complaints for several supposed errors. In third place was Capital Radio DJ Ant Payne’s ‘insensitive’ joke about earthquake-hit Turkey.