Comedy news: BBC rap Graham Norton for 'lesbian' gag

Tweet

Graham Norton has been rapped on the knuckles for a joke which was ruled to be offensive to lesbians.

The BBC Editorial Complaints Unit upheld a solitary complaint made after Norton had made the joke on his BBC Two chat show in March.

Norton was seen to call drawings of a short-haired woman in a jump suit a "lesbian" a number of times during a segment on patent applications.

Guest Ruth Jones commented you cannot tell someone's sexuality from their haircut, asking him: "What does a lesbian look like?"

Norton, who is openly gay himself, replied: "That."

The BBC watchdogs ruled this was sufficient to earn Norton a ticking off.

In the ruling statement, they said: "Although the initial references might have been inoffensive if considered on their own, they prompted an exchange with one of the programme's guests which gave the references the appearance of perpetuating or reinforcing a potentially offensive stereotype.

"The programme team were reminded of the need to avoid any possibility of being seen to endorse offensive sexual stereotypes."

The move is likely to consolidate concerns that the BBC has become terrified to offend since the 'Sachsgate' scandal of 2008, in which Russell Brand lost his job and Jonathan Ross was suspended for three months after making a crude phonecall to actor Andrew Sachs.

Just last week Channel 4 entertainment head Andrew Newman urged the BBC to "ignore" its "psychotic critics" and make comedy it felt appropriate.