Ofcom has received more than 2,000 complaints over comedian Nabil Abdulrashid’s performance in the series finale of Britain’s Got Talent.
The stand-up comic has been winning acclaim for his routines which address issues including fatphobia and racial discrimination.
In his final routine, Abdulrashid joked about police brutality, as well as the complaints that the series had received in the wake of Diversity’s Black Lives Matter-inspired dance routine.
“They complained because we said black lives matter,” he said. “Thousands of complaints. To be honest I’m shocked that many of them know how to write.
“They sent in thousands of angry letters. Hopefully if I annoy them today they can progress onto words,” he quipped.
Abdulrashid also questioned why he himself had been the object of complaints to the broadcasting watchdog.
“They even wrote complaints about me – that’s what upsets me. What did I say to offend anybody?” he asked.
“You’d think I came out here and said something really inflammatory... like Winston Churchill was black,” he joked. “By the way, he was. I can prove it. When was the last time you met a white man called Winston?”
Abdulrashid lost out on the night to comedic singer Jon Courtenay, who won the public vote by a landslide.
As well as the 2,000 complaints to Ofcom, Abdulrashid also recently revealed his auditions on the series had resulted in a virulent online backlash.
The comedian said that he had received racist abuse and death threats in the wake of his successful semi-final performance.
