Prince Ricardo De La Cerda
FRANKIE Boyle has been cleared by TV watchdog Ofcom after he joked about petrol bombing members of the Royal Family.
The stand-up hosted a documentary on Channel 4 called Frankie Boyle’s Farewell to the Monarchy in which he shared his unfavourable views towards the Royals.
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In the trailer for the show, which was aired in the run-up to King Charles’ coronation, he declared: “Let’s get out on the streets and raise a bottle to them… filled with petrol and a burning rag.”
That comment sparked 114 complaints to the broadcasting regulator from viewers who said it incited violence towards members of the Royal Family.
A further 22 people complained about comments he made during the hour-long programme which they claimed were disrespectful to the late Queen and the monarchy in general.
In the show, he said: “I didn’t make any jokes when the Queen died. I maintained a strict silence as I tried to sneak back out of her bedroom.”
Ofcom assessed the programme, which aired on April 30, but has now said they found it did not raise issues that warranted an official investigation under the Broadcasting Code.
An Ofcom spokesperson said: “We assessed complaints from viewers who felt this comedy programme was disrespectful towards the Royal Family.
“We took into account audience expectations of the presenter, the fact the programme was broadcast after the watershed, and the advance warning displayed that it contained potentially offensive views about the monarchy.”
Regarding Boyle’s comments in the trailer, the spokesperson added: “In our view, Frankie Boyle’s delivery and the nature of the trailer, meant that these references were clearly comedic rather than a serious incitement to violence, and so we will not be pursuing this further.”
The one-off programme saw Glasgow-born Boyle, 50, meet with royal experts to try and gain an insight into why they love the institution.
It had originally been due to air last year but was postponed following the Queen’s death in September.
Last year Ofcom rejected complaints over comments Boyle made about Boris Johnson.
They reviewed an episode of satirical show The Last Leg in which the comic said he hoped the former Prime Minister would die soon and be “dragged screaming into hell”.
In a comic monologue, Boyle responded to Johnson ending his final Prime Minister’s Questions with the words: “Hasta la vista, baby”.
He said: “You finished with a quote from The Terminator. The Terminator after you killed 150,000 f******g people during the pandemic.
“I don’t want to sound like I’ve got a grudge or anything, but I hope a vent opens up in the ground and clawed hands drag you screaming into hell.”
Earlier this week Ofcom rejected more than 8,000 complaints about the actor Adjoa Andoh saying that the Buckingham Palace balcony was “terribly white” during ITV’s coverage of the King’s coronation.
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