The BBC has been hit with more than 600 complaints for calling actor Paul Mescal ‘British.’
A total of 605 complaints were made to the BBC over the broadcaster’s blunder while they were reporting on his Oscar nomination for Aftersun last week.
The BBC News programme showed text on the screen that said: “2023 Oscar nominations: British actors Paul Mescal and Bill Nighy are nominated for leading role.”
READ MORE: List of Irish people wrongly labelled 'British'
The BBC apologised for the mistake shortly afterwards, in a statement that read: “In text running across the screen we reported that Paul Mescal was one of two British actors who had been nominated for an Oscar for a leading role.
“The text should have said that Paul Mescal is Irish. We apologise for the mistake.”
While the BBC is monitored by Ofcom, it also takes on complaints directly. However, audiences can then complain to Ofcom if they believe a breach of the Broadcasting Code has been made.
Mescal, who was born in Maynooth, Co Kildare, has previously had to correct the British press for getting his nationality wrong.
After making headlines when starring in the television adaptation of Sally Rooney’s best-selling novel Normal People in 2020, Mescal tweeted simply: “I’m Irish.”
The post picked up more than 130,000 likes as well as more than 12,000 retweets and more than 1,600 replies. That year he was also nominated for the Best Actor Award at the BAFTAS, which he won.
Next month, Paul will again be competing for an international nod for his first starring role in a feature film, after his nomination in the Actor in a Leading Role category for Aftersun.
He will be going up against Austin Butler (Elvis), Brendan Fraser (The Whale), Bill Nighy (Living) and fellow Irishman Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin) in the category.
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