Ofcom has issued its verdict after thousands of complaints were made over comments delivered by Bridgerton star Adjoa Andoh as she appeared during ITV's coverage of King Charles' Coronation.
She was heard describing the Buckingham Palace balcony as "terribly white" during the coverage of the historic event which took place on May 6. The comments instantly became the most complained about TV moment of 2023 so far, Ofcom said days later when just half of the complaints had been counted.
The actress, 60, who plays Lady Agatha Danbury in the Netflix show, said after King Charles and Queen Camilla made their appearance on the Buckingham Palace balcony for the first time after being crowned: "Looking at all those young people, there is a bit of me that has gone from the rich diversity of the Abbey to the terribly white balcony. I’m very struck by that.”
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Andoh later appeared on BBC Radio 4 to clarify what she meant and apologise for her comment. Andoh acknowledged the backlash and told radio host Paddy O’Connell:“I think I upset a few people...
"I was talking about the day and how marvellous it was and then looking at the balcony at the end and suddenly went, ‘Oh, it’s so white’ because the day had been so, so mixed and I didn’t mean to upset anybody."
And on Monday (June 5), Ofcom issued a statement in which they confirmed no further action would be taken. A statement from the broadcasting watchdog said: "We have concluded our assessment of complaints we received about a comment made during ITV’s coverage of the coronation of King Charles III, and can confirm we will not be pursuing these further.
"We received 8,371 complaints from viewers about a comment made by actress Adjoa Andoh during the live broadcast, which focused on the appearance of the royal family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace."
It also said: "While we understand some viewers had strong feelings about this comment, after careful consideration we have concluded that the comment was a personal observation which was part of a wide-ranging panel discussion which also touched on other diversity-related topics, and which contained a range of viewpoints.
"Our decision to not pursue these complaints further also takes into account broadcasters’ and guests’ right to freedom of expression."
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