Yahoo News CBB cleared of 'homophobic comments' complaints
Broadcasting regulator Ofcom has cleared Celebrity Big Brother after the reality show received 128 complaints about alleged 'homophobic comments' made by football star John Barnes.
Barnes was having a conversation with eventual winner Shane Jenek (also known as Courtney Act) over why he thinks heterosexual men can be 'uncomfortable' around gay men.
He said at the time: "I know it shouldn't be that way, but men are comfortable just being in a room with a woman. But with gays, they don't come with a gay man.
"They assume he's definitely going to want to have sex with me. And that's why men aren't comfortable with gay men. They think, 'I wonder if he's thinking about me without my clothes on'. It is an uncomfortable feeling that he is going to pounce on me.
"Because of the stigmatisation concerning the act itself, they're thinking you're gonna make a move on me, you're going to touch me."
Jenek said that he didn't think Barnes himself was homophobic, but expressed upset that straight men had this stigma.
Ofcom listed the John Barnes matter under the category of "Complaints assessed, not investigated", and did not explain the decision in detail.
In contrast, The Apprentice star-turned-housemate Andrew Brady made no bones about labelling controversial Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe as homophobic for her comments in the house and anti-LGBT+ voting record.
Jenek said that he would have been disappointed if Widdecombe had won the series, as it would have been "a statement that people support her views".
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