The BBC has been criticized by critics for removing Joe Lycett’s attack on the government in a clip from the opening ceremony of the Commonweath Games.
The comedian was in his hometown Birmingham to showcase some of the extravaganza, which included RuPaul’s Drag Race star Ginny Lemon arriving in a lemon-sized hot air balloon.
Dressed in a pink frilly tracksuit, the 34-year-old introduced himself as ‘Birmingham’s answer to Sporty Spice’ and drew deafening cheers from the Alexander Stadium crowd.
And while introducing athletes from countries in Asia to the event produced by Peaky Blinders Creator Steven RidderJoe took a moment to throw a punch against the British government.
“I’m now going to do something the British government doesn’t always do, and welcome some foreigners – this time from the Asia region.”
The joke drew much laughter from the 30,000-strong crowd on Thursday night, as well as praise on social media.
Even after the ceremony was over, Joe couldn’t help but dig one last time, explaining on Twitter that it was “just a little chatter” before tagging Home Secretary Priti Patel in the post.
However, the BBC is now in hot water, accused of having removed Joe’s joke from his social media account.
BBC Sport tweeted a clip of Joe from the ceremony last night, but the 25-second clip ends before criticizing the government.
The message is captioned: “@joelycett, you MUST tell us where you got that outfit!”
Fans were quick to spot the edit and one user told the BBC, “Should have put everything he said on it.”
“Don’t cut the Tory line. The Tories won’t like you any better if you delete it,” one viewer wrote.
Another said: ‘What are you afraid of, you left out the most important part of the clip?’
“This wasn’t the whole clip though… was it @BBCSport?” asked a Commonwealth Games spectator.
‘Tut, tut BBC,’ wrote one viewer.
The British government is no stranger to criticism for its attitude and approach to immigration to the country.
In 2018, the Windrush scandal made headlines when it was revealed that up to 83 people had been wrongfully detained and threatened with deportation.
And most recently, in June, angry protests and a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights prevented a plane from deporting seven refugees to Rwanda.
Despite the plane grounding on that occasion, the British government is expected to draft plans to schedule another flight to Rwanda.
The BBC has been contacted for comment.
Watch the full Commonwealth Games ceremony on iPlayer now.
LAKE : Nadine Dorries awkwardly forgets that Glasgow hosted the last Commonwealth Games
LAKE : How long do the Commonwealth Games last?
Do you have a story?
If you have any celebrity story, video or photos, please contact the metro.co.uk animation team by emailing [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or visiting our Submit things page – we’d love to hear from you.
