THEGAYUK

Tag: Ofcom

All the latest breaking news on Ofcom. Browse THEGAYUK’s complete collection of news, articles and commentary on Ofcom.

  • Piers Morgan cleared by OfCom over gender identity views

    Piers Morgan cleared by OfCom over gender identity views

    (ITV)

    He “has a right to express his views”

    Piers Morgan has been cleared by Ofcom after nearly 1000 complaints were made against him over his views on gender identity.

    The two-spirit penguin, also known as Piers Morgan, who presents ITV’s morning show, Good Morning Britain was ruled to have behaved within guidelines, with the communication’s regulator saying that his remarks about identifying as a penguin “did not raise issues warranting investigation”.

    It added that he had the right to express his strongly held beliefs.

    The regulator did allow, in its initial investigation that some viewers of the early morning show, could be offended by his comments, but that the regular audience of the ITV show would have “clear expectations around his provocative position on the issue”.

    His co-host was singled out for complaint

    His co-host Susanna Reid was criticised by Ofcom for not challenging Piers enough on his views.

    A gleeful Piers said, “The only person singled out for complaint is actually not me… it’s Susanna.”

    Susanna replied, “He gets exonerated and I get criticised!”

    Watch Piers and Susanna discuss the ruling here.

  • Loose Women will not be investigated over “gay best friend” discussion

    Loose Women will not be investigated over “gay best friend” discussion

    Ofcom has said it will not investigate Loose Women complaints about a Facebook post and on-air discussion on whether every woman should have a gay best friend.

    loose women
    ITV

    Last year the TV programme Loose Women on ITV came under intense criticism from some in the LGBT community, after a segment it called “every woman should have a gay best friend.”  Many of the critics slammed the line of questioning as “casual homophobia”.

    Pinknews reports that Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator, has rejected two complaints made about the show. The complaints were made on the grounds of “sexual orientation discrimination/offence”.

    The show which is broadcast on ITV every weekday morning and has been running since 1999 with 26 series being made. It celebrated its 2500 episode in April 2016.

     

  • Ofcom clear CBB over Christopher Biggins’ bisexual comments

    Ofcom clear CBB over Christopher Biggins’ bisexual comments

    The UK’s communications watchdog, Ofcom has cleared Channel 5 and the producers of Celebrity Big Brother of any wrongdoing in broadcasting comments made by entertainer Christopher Biggins.

    Christopher Biggins
    Celebrity Big Brother 2016

     

    The producers of Celebrity Big Brother and its broadcaster, Channel 5, have been clear of wrongdoing after broadcasting offensive comments made by the entertainer Christopher Biggins.

    The entertainer caused uproar after he made a number of claims and comments about bisexuals in the 2016 summer edition of Celebrity Big Brother.

    He was removed from the house after a number of official warnings by the show’s execs.

    Christopher Biggins
    CREDIT Channel 5

    Ofcom receieved 44 complaints but said that the coments were “within the audience’s expectations”.

    A spokesperson for Ofcom said,

    “We investigated whether a discussion between Christopher Biggins and Renee Graziano about the sexual orientation of bisexual people was offensive

    “We accepted that these remarks made in Celebrity Big Brother were capable of causing offence, but they were likely to be within the audience’s expectations of this programme.”

  • Christopher Biggins’ bisexual comments to be investigated by Ofcom

    Christopher Biggins’ bisexual comments to be investigated by Ofcom

    Ofcom is to launch an investigation into the broadcasting of comments made by Christopher Biggins during the last series of Celebrity Big Brother.

    Christopher Biggins
    Celebrity Big Brother 2016

     

    The communications regulator Ofcom is to launch an investigation into comments made by Christopher Biggins during the summer 2016 series of Channel 5’s Celebrity Big Brother. Channel 5 bosses decided to boot him from the house after several warnings about his comments.

    The 67-year-old star caused outrage online after he made a series of comments about bisexuals, including his belief that they were the “worst type” and that bisexuals were people who were those not “wanting to admit they’re gay”.

    He also claimed that HIV was “spread by bisexuals” and they brought it over to America.

    A number of complaints were made to Ofcom when the programme aired in August. A spokesperson for Ofcom confirmed that they were investigating the comments and whether the comments were offensive.

    “We’re investigating whether a contestant’s comments about bisexual people were offensive and breached generally accepted standards”.

     

  • 34 Ofcom complaints lodged against Channel 5’s Celebrity Big Brother

    34 Ofcom complaints lodged against Channel 5’s Celebrity Big Brother

    Celebrity Big Brother could be investigated by Ofcom after a number of complaints were made about last night’s episode, which included Christopher Biggins speaking out against bisexuals.

    Ofcom revealed that they had received a number of complaints about last night’s episode of Celebrity Big Brother. The majority of complaints were concerning the supposed bullied of LBC presenter James Whale and Loose Women panelist Saira Khan.

    According to Digital Spy Ofcom received a total of 34 complaints.

    Eleven complaints were also made against Christopher Biggin‘s remarks about bisexual people.

    During a conversation with Mob Wives star Renee Graziano, Christopher Biggins referred to bisexual people as “the worst type” and said that bisexuals were people who were afraid to admit that they were gay.

    Read the full transcript here.

     

    Celebrity Big Brother continues tonight (August 2) at 9pm on Channel 5.

     

     

  • Ofcom Will Not Investigate Channel 5 Over Winston McKenzie’s “Homophobic” Remarks

    Ofcom has announced that it won’t investigate remarks made by Winston McKenzie in this series of Celebrity Big Brother even though it has received nearly 400 official complaints.

    The media watchdog Ofcom has said it won’t be investigating Channel 5 after it broadcast the “homophobic” and bigoted views by London Mayoral hopeful Winston McKenzie.

    When questioned whether he could deal with gay people during his time in the Celebrity Big Brother house, McKenzie said in his initial VT he,

    …Could cope with a homosexual in the house. I guess I’ll just have to stand with my back against a brick wall all the time,” he said.

    A statement released by the watchdog said,

    “We are satisfied that Channel 5 broadcast clear and appropriate warnings about the potentially offensive content, and intervened in heated exchanges and situations at appropriate times.

    “We have also taken into account the audience’s expectations of this well-established reality format, and that the series is aired after the watershed.”

    During his time in the house McKenzie tried to explain his feelings about same-sex parenting, which he said he feels is akin to child abuse. McKenzie was nominated by the LGBT charity Stonewall as Bigot Of The Year in 2013 for the comment.

     

  • Winston McKenzie “Homophobia” Sparks 350 Complaints To Ofcom

    Winston McKenzie’s anti-gay slur has racked up over 350 complaints.

    Over 350 complaints have been formally lodged to Ofcom after Channel 5 broadcast an anti-gay jibe by London Mayoral hopeful and ex-UKIP politician Winston McKenzie.
    Winston McKenzie entered the Big Brother house on Tuesday night to a wave of boos after revealing that he would have to keep his back to the wall if there were any gay people in the house.
    During his VT before his entry McKenzie said,

    “I could cope with a homosexual in the house – as long as he keeps his back to the wall.”

    The controversial ex-boxer has in the past likened same-sex adoption of children akin to child abuse – a comment for which he was nominated by Stonewall for Bigot Of The Year in 2013.

    Ofcom revealed that 352 complaints had been made and a spokesperson for the regulator said,

    “We will assess these complaints before deciding whether to investigate or not.”

  • Holyfield’s homophobic remarks attract 126 complaints to Ofcom

    The UK’s broadcast and communications regulator Ofcom has received 126 complaints for the programme in which Evander Holyfield said gay people weren’t normal.

    On Sunday night viewers were shocked when former boxer Evander Holyfield said that being gay was not ‘normal’ and that it could be fixed during a conversation with Luisa Zissman.

    Today Ofcom announced that it had received 126 complaints about the programme broadcast on Sunday the 5th January.

    The 2013 Celebrity Big Brother Series received a total of 956 complaints, in 2012 the programme garnered over 2000.

    It is unclear at this stage whether the broadcaster will be investigated by Ofcom.

  • Fever FM Loses Future Funding After It’s Fined For Homophobia

    Speaking to The Tudor Trust, The Gay UK has learnt that funding for troubled community radio station Fever 107.3 FM has ended.

    Speaking to the Head of Fund management Laura Bowman said:

    ‘We are aware (of the OfCom upheld complaint) and our funding has actually ended. I am waiting for a response from them (Fever FM) about the situation and what they’re doing to ensure that something like this never happens again.’

     

    The Leeds based radio station was reported to Ofcom the UK’s communications industry regulator after one of its presenters Sister Ruby, real name Rubina Nasir, made calls for gay people to be beaten, humiliated, tortured and punished.

     

    Ofcom declared the comments were “likely to encourage or incite the commission of crime”.

    The Tudor Trust had given Fever 107.3 FM a three year grant. The incident happened in the last year of funding.

    ‘We’d want to see them make proactive steps to ensure that their broadcasts are fair and in line with community radio guidelines.’ Ms. Bowman said from The Tudor Trust

  • Fever FM Fined £4000 For Violent Threats Against Gay People

    A UK based radio station was fined £4000 after one of its presenters said that gay people were ‘evil’ and should be ‘punished, rebuked, beaten and humiliated.’ (more…)