BGT George Floyd ‘tribute’ gets 10,000 complaints
A dAnce routine on Britain’s Got Talent inspired by Black Lives Matter has become the second most complained about TV moment of the decade.
The performance by diversity on last Saturday’s show has triggered more than 10,000 complaints to Ofcom.
The performance depicted a white police officer kneeling on troupe leader Ashley Banjo – echoing the killing of black man George Floyd in America – while other dancers performed with police riot shields.
As of yesterday, the broadcasting watchdog had received 10,267 complaints about the ITV show.
diversity’s performance was set to the poem The Great Realisation by Tomfoolery, which reflects on the coronavirus lockdown and how ‘while we all were hidden, under orders of the Prime Minister, people dusted off their instincts and noticed something more sinister’.
‘Another disease, deep-rooted in our system, fear, hate and ignorance, but racism was the symptom,’ it said.
Mr Banjo lay on the floor while the ‘police officer’ handcuffed him, as other dancers crowded around with smartphones as if to film the incident.
Social media was divided on the performance, with some accusing the group, who won the show in 2009, of disrespect for the police.
Others said it was ‘disappointing’ to see the troupe ‘using BLM to promote themselves’.
A Britain’s Got Talent spokesman said: ‘diversity’s performance offered their take on the extraordinary events of 2020 opening up important topics of conversation.’
It is the most complained about episode of a TV show this year and the second most complained about of the decade, surpassing a 2018 episode of Loose Women, when Kim Woodburn and coleen nolan had a heated argument, which received 7,912 complaints.
However, an episode of celebrity Big, in which Roxanne Pallett wrongly accused Ryan Thomas of hitting her, dubbed ‘punchgate’, from a 2018 episode, is still the most objectedto TV moment of the last ten years with 25,327 complaints.