Diversity star Jordan Banjo has spoken out about the racist abuse he received after performing a Black Lives Matter-themed dance on Britain’s Got Talent.
The dance, which was inspired by George Floyd’s death and saw group leader Ashley Banjo (Jordan’s brother) being pinned down by a police officer, received 24,500 complaints. Ofcom confirmed some viewers were unhappy with the routine being “too political” for a Saturday night entertainment programme and perceived it to be racist against white people.
ITV has come out in full support of the dance, and over the weekend it took out full-page adverts in every national newspaper that stated: “ITV stand with Diversity.”
Ofcom also said it would not investigate the routine, saying it did not consider it to be racist.
Despite these shows of support, Banjo has said the abuse from some members of the public has been shocking. "I don't want to highlight it but there is an issue from threats, to talking about our kids, to being called names, I have never seen so much creative writing in my entire life,” he said, according to the Express.
"How people can adapt one racial slur so many times is beyond me, you need a medal for that."
Banjo has two children who he shares with his fiancé Naomi. "The negative voices in the room always seem the loudest at first,” he added, “but you look past all of that and you look past the few select headlines and genuinely there is so much more positivity than negativity.”
He said strangers he’s bumped into in the petrol station have “shouted across the forecourt how much they loved" the dance and it has been shown in schools.
Banjo added: "You have people like Lewis Hamilton tweeting and it's sparking a positive conversation, which is what we wanted."
