'Britain's Got Talent' most complained about television show of 2020
Britain’s Got Talent was the most complained about show of 2020, largely because of Diversity’s Black Lives Matter-inspired dance routine.
The ITV entertainment programme triggered more than 31,000 complaints to media watchdog Ofcom, according to a Freedom of Information request made by The Sun.
That was more than the likes of Good Morning Britain and This Morning, which also received thousands of complaints over 12 months.
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According to The Sun, of the 31,763 complaints about BGT, more than 25,000 related to the routine performed by Ashley Banjo’s dance troupe on the programme in September.
The emotional performance saw the dancers tell the story of the death of George Floyd, and included a figure in police uniform placing his knee on lead dancer Banjo’s neck.
It triggered a flurry of complaints but the dancers and many celebrities defended the performance.
Addressing the backlash on Instagram at the time, Banjo said Diversity had “never been prouder”.
“This is what change looks like,” he wrote. “@itv stand with @diversity_official and we’ve never been prouder.”
In their response to viewer complaints, ITV praised Diversity for their "authentic, heartfelt" response to the issues of 2020.
The programme drew other complaints across the last series, with one of judge Amanda Holden’s racy dresses sparking its fair share.
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According to The Sun, Good Morning Britain finished in second place in the list of 2020’s most complained about shows, with a reported 13,215 complaints, and This Morning was third.
The paper said that BBC programmes were exempt because complaints are referred to the corporation.
Yahoo has contacted Ofcom and ITV.
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