Saturday night’s Britain’s Got Talent was met with a dance performance which made an extremely powerful statement about theBLM movementand the George Floyd protests.
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The dance, executed by former winners Diversity received huge amounts of support from fans. But it seems as if others were not so happy to be greeted with the political fueled dance, as it gained almost 3,000 Ofcom complaints over the space of just three days.
The performance which depicted protests, as well as police brutality and the death of George Floyd, had received 1,121 Ofcom complaints by Monday, a number which has now reached 2,966.
Ashley Banjo, who led the dance group and also stepped in on the night to act as a judge for the show took to Instagram to comment on the situation:
Banjo shared with his viewers some of the many ‘hateful and ignorant’ messages he had been receiving on the platform criticizing his performance and urging him to stop pushing political topics.
The post depicted an image of Banjo alongside Anthony Joshua and Lewis Hamilton accompanied by the words:
Dear Joshua and Banjo and any other Black public figures. We the Great British Public will only support you if you entertain us and do not say anything about racism. Thank you for your understanding.
In response, Banjo added to the post:
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 #Diversity.
The dancer also released a powerful statement in an earlier post stating:
Art: The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power. My truth, my platform, my art. I’ve always tried to create not only to entertain but also to inspire... That will never change.
He continued:
‘Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter’ - Martin Luther King Jr I’m so grateful and overwhelmed by all of the love and support but also by the amount of conversation this performance has thrown up 🙏🏽 2020 has been such a historical year. One day we will look back and realise it was the start of real change...Sending out nothing but love and positivity to everyone reading this post 🖤
Ofcom are deciding whether or not to investigate the complaints
Yesterday, Ofcom announced that they were still considering whether or not to launch an investigation into the numerous complaints.
But, judge David Walliams has been singing the praise of the dance group stating that their performance was the start of ‘real change’ in this country. He took to Twitter to state:
I’m so grateful and overwhelmed by all of the love and support but also by the amount of conversation this performance has thrown up. 2020 has been such a historical year. One day we will look back and realise it was the start of real change.
A spokesperson for Britain’s Got Talent has also released a statement in support of Diversity’s performance, calling it an ‘important topic of conversation’:
Diversity’s performance offered their take on the extraordinary events of 2020 opening up important topics of conversation. The show was complied for a family audience
