Russell Brand's pre-watershed swearing and Vic Reeves' 'fake penis' antics caused a stir on social media during Friday night's telethon.
British television watchdog Ofcom is weighing up whether to launch an investigation into the BBC’s Comic Relief telethon last weekend, after the charity fundraiser caused more than 150 complaints.
The network’s bi-annual Red Nose Day evening, which was broadcast on Friday evening (March 24th), was criticised on social media for sound issues and pre-watershed profanity.
A number of moments, in particular when comedian Vic Reeves flashed a fake penis at Susanna Reid before the 9pm watershed, and when host Russell Brand exclaimed “f***ing hell” in response to a technical hitch, sparked controversy. By Monday (March 27th), a large number of viewers had written to Ofcom to complain about the incidents, and the watchdog is now considering its response.
Russell Brand dropped the F-bomb before the watershed during Comic Relief's telethon
In a statement released this week, Ofcom said that most of the complaints related to content rather than the technical issues. A spokesperson said: “We have received 151 complaints about Comic Relief 2017 on the BBC. We will assess these complaints before deciding whether or not to investigate.”
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The huge Comic Relief telethon, held across both main BBC channels, featured a number of greatly anticipated sketches and skits, most notably the Love, Actually sequel penned by Richard Curtis. The evening also featured Hugh Grant, Keira Knightley, Colin Firth and Take That. With a peak ratings figure of 7.6 million, Red Nose Day 2017 has so far raised more than £73 million.
However, many used Twitter to express their disappointment at what they regarded as the low quality of production and content, and the pre-watershed bad language.
Many links and segues were hard to hear for listeners at home, with host Sir Lenny Henry at one point having to ask the crowd at London’s O2 Arena to quieten down.
“There was a minor technical issue that meant the show was off-air for a minute, but quickly restored,” a BBC spokesperson said in response, adding that the money raised “will go a huge way to help improve the lives of many people both here in the UK and in some of the world's poorest countries.”
More: Take That join James Corden for special Comic Relief version of ‘Carpool Karaoke’
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