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Diversity’s Black Lives Matter-inspired performance on Britain’s Got Talent will not face investigation from media regulator Ofcom.
The four-minute routine has prompted around 24,500 complaints from members of the public since it aired on ITV on September 5.
The watchdog said the subject matter of the complaints included concerns that the issues of violence and racism were inappropriate for family viewing, which expressed support for the political organization. Black lives matter, that he encouraged violence against the police and that he was racist towards whites.
The routine generated more than 24,000 complaints. Image: ITV / Syco / Thames
However, after a thorough evaluation, they concluded that the dance did not raise issues that would warrant an investigation under its broadcasting standards.
Part of the routine featured a dancer playing a white cop kneeling on Ashley Banjo’s chest, echoing the murder of George Floyd in the United States earlier this year. The dance company also knelt against racism and police brutality.
The report found that “the performance did not contain content that was racist, inappropriately violent or inappropriate in the context of this show.”
Banjo thanked fans on social media after the decision, writing: “Creativity is always a leap of faith. Everything I did was what felt good and I would do it 100 times … Sending love to all who they supported us “. .
A spokesperson for Ofcom He said: “We carefully consider a large number of complaints about this artistic routine, an area where freedom of expression is particularly important.
“The diversity performance touched on challenging and potentially controversial issues, and in our opinion, its central message was a call for social cohesion and unity.
“All of the performers’ depictions of violence were highly stylized and symbolic of recent world events, and there was no explicit reference to any particular political organization, but rather a message that black lives matter.” .
Ofcom says they have also received a series of messages of support and praise for the routine.
Routine is the second element they have complained about the most in the last 12 years. Image: ITV / Syco / Thames
The first half of Diversity’s performance focused on the spoken poem The Great Realization by British poet Tomfoolery, which reflects on the coronavirus emergency shutdown.
The poem, which takes the form of a bedtime story about the coronavirus pandemic that is told to a child in the future, went viral on YouTube earlier this year.
The narration continued: “But while we were all in hiding, under the orders of the Prime Minister, people dusted off their instincts and noticed something more sinister.
“Another disease, deeply ingrained in our system, fear, hatred and ignorance, but racism was the symptom.”
Banjo lay on the ground while the policeman handcuffed him and other dancers huddled with their smartphones.
“What we thought we knew, some clearly did not know,” the narration continued. “Black Lives Matter”.
The lyrics included George Floyd’s last words, “I can’t breathe.” Image: ITV / Syco / Thames
Diversity then knelt before Dax’s song Black Lives Matter, with the lyrics “I can’t breathe”, the last words spoken by My Floyd.
Ant and Dec continued to interview Banjo after the performance.
In the detail of its report, Ofcom disagrees with complaints that the routine was inappropriate for children, concluding that “the subject and the way it was portrayed on the show was suitable for a family audience.”
They also noted that the routine was shown after the 9 p.m. dividing line, airing at 9.40 p.m.
Faced with allegations that the performance was racist towards whites, they said: “Although the performance referenced challenging and potentially controversial topics such as police brutality and racial inequality, in our opinion, the core message of the routine was specifically one of social cohesion and unity “.
The report found that depictions of encounters between anti-racism protests and the police in the routine were “limited and symbolic in nature” and “in no way condoned or extolled violent behavior.”
Regarding due impartiality, taking into account complaints about political bias, Ofcom found that the performance “did not explicitly reference or support any particular political objective of the Black Lives Matter movement or various decentralized Black Lives Matter organizations.”
Instead, they said “the routine conveyed the Diversity message that black lives matter.”
ITV has supported the performance, calling it “an authentic and sincere response to many of the problems and events that have affected society in 2020.”
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The dance routine has become the second most reported topic in the last 12 years.
In 2007, Ofcom received a record 44,500 complaints from viewers for alleged racist harassment of Celebrity older brother contestant Shilpa Shetty. It was later discovered that parts of the program had violated the broadcast codes.
Lead dancer Banjo said he has received “thousands of messages of hate and ignorance” as well as “thousands of messages of love and support” on social media since the performance.
Diversity won Britain’s Got Talent award in 2009, and Banjo currently ranks as Simon Cowell as guest judge after broke his back in an electric bicycle accident.
