Britain's Got Talent 2020 judge Alesha Dixon takes aim at the trolls in Diversity uproar
Ofcom says complaints have exceeded 10,000 as BGT Alesha Dixon had a start message for the trolls.
Britain's Got Talent 2020 judge Alesha Dixon leapt into the row surrounding Diversity's dance routine in Saturday's premiere of the ITV talent contest, as complaints about the act to Ofcom reached 10,267.
She told the Diversity trolls: “They can kiss my black a**”.
Some have complained that Diversity's routine – which was a dance interpretation of the strange events this year and included a Black Lives Matter sequence – was too political for a family entertainment show like Britain's Got Talent and have registered their unhappiness with broadcasting watchdog Ofcom.
An Ofcom spokesperson told the BBC earlier this week: "We are assessing the complaints against our broadcasting rules, but are yet to decide whether or not to investigate."
Ashley Banjo has revealed the extent of the abuse he and other Diversity members have received since Saturday, sharing a troll's Instagram post on Tuesday.
He accompanied the repost with his message:
"For the people sending this:
1. You do not represent or speak for the Great British public.
2. Silence was never and will never be an option.
3. Change is inevitable... Get used to it"
Banjo is temporary judge on this season of Britain's Got Talent, replacing the convalescing Simon Cowell, and his co-judges have supported he and his dance crew members.
Dixon wrote in reply to his post: “They can kiss my black a**”.
Another judge David Walliams has also supported the Diversity stars on social media, retweeting and liking Banjo's messages.
Banjo's younger brother Jordan also revealed on his KISS FM UK breakfast show the extent of the "horrible stuff" Diversity had received since Saturday.
In an emotional outburst, Jordan said they had been “bombarded with messages and articles of horrible stuff about us, about our families, about how even now Diversity [is] not diverse enough because there's only five white people in it."
Diversity's performance included a sequence in which a dancer knelt on another dancer's neck, to simulate the US policeman's killing of George Floyd in May, an event that inspired the Black Lives Matter protests around the world.
ITV has defended the routine, telling The Mirror: “Diversity’s performance offered their take on the extraordinary events of 2020 opening up important topics of conversation. The show was compiled for a family audience.”
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