Coronation Street has dropped a freelance director named Steve Finn over offensive comments he made on social media regarding racism.
Finn reportedly claimed there was no racism in the media and mocked those who said they had experienced it.
Many soap stars spoke out this year against racial discrimination they say they have experienced on set, and several broadcasters vowed to make changes to ensure this does not happen again.
ITV told us: "We have been made aware of comments on social media by a freelance director, Steve Finn, which are inconsistent with the values of both Coronation Street and ITV.
"The director will not therefore be returning to Coronation Street ."
According to the Huffington Post, Finn wrote Facebook posts that mocked TV historian David Olusoga after he spoke out about racism in his career.
He also made offensive comments about director Noel Clarke, who had told BBC Radio 5 Live that he asked for a more diverse production crew on his set.
Finn has directed several episodes of Corrie over the last two years, including some scenes that air this week and on the Christmas Day episode.
He has also directed episodes of EastEnders, Hollyoaks, Casualty, and Holby City.
Following the Black Lives Matter protests and Hollyoaks star Rachel Adedeji going public with her experiences of discrimination on set, many broadcasters agreed more work must be done to bring diversity and acceptance to programmes behind the camera.
Coronation Street recently aired a heartbreaking racism storyline involving Ed Bailey (Trevor Michael Georges), and soap bosses consulted with Baroness Lawrence, the mother of murdered Stephen Lawrence, to ensure it was written sensitively and correctly.
John Whiston, the Managing Director of Continuing Drama & Head of ITV in the North, has since told DigitalSpy they have another "more in-depth" racism storyline coming up on the show.
The Bailey family were the first black family on the soap, and only arrived in 2019 after the show had aired for 59 years.
ITV announced a Diversity Acceleration Plan in July 2020 in which it set out to "create more opportunities for those from Black, Asian, minority ethnic and other underrepresented groups".
