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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Ellie Harrison

Hundreds of viewers complain Dave and Stormzy's Brit Awards performances were 'racist'

More than 300 people have complained that Dave and Stormzy’s Brit performances were “racist”.

Dave, who won Best Album at the ceremony earlier this month, made headlines for adding lyrics about Boris Johnson to his song “Black”, rapping: "The truth is our prime minister is a real racist."

Now, Ofcom has received 257 complaints about his performance, with the regulator telling The Sun that viewers perceived his show as “racist”.

Stormzy's performance also prompted 39 complaints, which Ofcom explained were about racism and what The Sun described as “the nature of the performance”. 

Ofcom said: "We are assessing the complaints against our broadcasting rules, but are yet to decide whether or not to investigate."

At the time, home secretary Priti Patel took issue with Dave’s rap, telling BBC Breakfast: “[Boris Johnson is] absolutely not a racist and I’m afraid that is very much a generalisation that has been made by rapper Dave, and I just disagree with it.”

She also told Sky News: “That’s utter nonsense, it really is. I don’t know what those comments are based on … He is not a racist at all. I just think those comments are highly inappropriate.” 

Dave then resurfaced the prime minister’s controversial comments about African people, in order to strengthen his claim.

The Independent has contacted Dave and Stormzy’s representatives for comment.

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