Channel 4 breaks rules by airing the use of the word 'retard'
The derogatory term was used by Vinnie Jones on interview show Celebrity Big Brother's Big Mouth and was later repeated by Davina McCall
Media regulator Ofcom has ruled that Channel 4 broke broadcasting rules for airing the word "retard" on a spin-off of Celebrity Big Brother, after having twice rejected previous complaints about the incident.
The word was used by Vinnie Jones, the actor and former footballer, on interview show Celebrity Big Brother's Big Mouth which aired on E4 at 11pm on 29 January.
Jones described the show's host Davina McCall as "walking like a retard" when she entered the Celebrity Big Brother house disguised in a chicken suit. McCall then repeated the word when she defended herself.
Ofcom received eight complaints about the incident. The media regulator originally rejected the complaints in February on the basis that "on balance that there was not sufficient evidence to conclude that the word was necessarily intended to be offensive to anyone with learning difficulties". However, Ofcom did remind Channel 4 of the "need to approach the broadcast of such language with sensitivity and care".
Two of the complainants asked for a review of the decision, with Ofcom initially restating its original ruling to one of them, before referring the case to the Broadcasting Review Committee because "the reasoning of the original decision was insufficient".
"The committee concluded that, on balance and in the circumstances of this particular case, there was insufficient context to justify the offence that was likely to be caused by the comments made during the programme," the regulator said. "Therefore the broadcast breached generally accepted standards."
Nicky Clark, the mother of two disabled daughters who was one of the complainants to Ofcom, said that it was right that the original ruling had been overturned.
"This is not a call for censorship or to block free speech," she added. "It is simply a call for the matter to be dealt with fairly and for the views of disabled people and those of us who love them to be listened to. The word must be judged by the context, and in this case it was derogatory."
"Channel 4 has never sought to defend the use of the word retard in CBBBM," said a spokeswoman for Channel 4. "We regret that in the heat of the moment during a live programme Vinnie Jones's comment was allowed to go unchecked. We would normally respond to an inappropriate comment of that nature by asking the presenter to admonish the person responsible and where appropriate apologising to the audience, but on this occasion that did not happen."
Channel 4 added that after the show aired it took "prompt action", apologising and removing the comments from the video-on-demand version.
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