BBC Breakfast has landed itself in hot water after a Sunday morning segment left some viewers fuming. What was meant to be a light-hearted moment turned sour when presenters Rachel Burden and Ben Boulos chuckled through a story involving damage to a piece of museum artwork.
The pair were back on the sofa on 15 June, chatting through the weekend’s headlines as usual, when they turned to a CCTV clip that’s been doing the rounds online. The footage showed a couple at a museum in Verona, Italy, who decided it was a good idea to sit on an art installation resembling a Van Gogh-style chair, which was entirely covered in crystals. Unsurprisingly, the chair didn’t hold up, reported Yorkshire Live.
As the video played, Rachel explained, “This is footage of a couple who decided to try out a chair, this was a Van Gogh style chair covered in crystals inside a museum in Verona.” As the chair collapsed underneath the visitor, Rachel couldn’t help but laugh while describing the moment. “The man decides he’ll try it out, and immediately it collapses,” she said, with Ben heard sniggering off-camera.
The couple clearly knew they’d done something wrong and made a quick dash from the scene, with Rachel adding, “It’s [the chair] left there, looking, I think, not necessarily the worst.” Ben then quipped, “It now tells a story. Art evolves, doesn’t it?” prompting more laughs between the two.
Rachel continued by saying, “The couple apparently fled the museum before staff knew what had happened,” and Ben added jokingly, “Imagine that moment of horror of when it happened; ‘oh dear, we’re in trouble!’”
But while the presenters found humour in the situation, not everyone watching at home saw it the same way. Social media quickly lit up with complaints from viewers who felt the pair were being insensitive. One unimpressed viewer wrote, “I hope they catch the couple from the museum. Also, I don’t understand why #BBCBreakfast is treating it as a laugh and a joke.” Another viewer added, “I don’t think it’s funny at all, but it’s tickled Ben.”
Someone else pointed out what many were thinking, saying, “Seems to have totally skipped over the fact that the guy destroyed a piece of art… he had no right to try it out!”
The chair in question was part of a display at the Palazzo Maffei in Verona, a museum known for its carefully curated art and design. The museum’s director, Vanessa Carlon, didn’t hold back in sharing her disappointment. Reflecting on the incident, she said, “Sometimes we lose our brains to take a picture, and we don’t think about the consequences.
“Of course, it was an accident, but these two people left without speaking to us – that isn’t an accident. This is a nightmare for any museum.”
While it might have been intended as a bit of morning amusement, many felt the BBC Breakfast presenters missed the mark this time, with some calling for a bit more care and respect when discussing art and cultural spaces. For now, the museum is left dealing with the damage, and the debate continues over whether this was a harmless mistake or an act of careless disrespect.
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