Mrs Brown’s Boys star insists racist joke at Christmas filming ‘was a good thing’ for BBC as it ‘raised awareness’
UNDERFIRE Mrs Brown’s Boys comic Brendan O’Carroll has doubled down on his recent race row in a new interview.
The Bafta-winning star was last month forced to apologise for making a racist joke but has now declared the backlash a “good thing” for the BBC.
Crew were left “shocked” when O’Carroll made a racial slur during rehearsals for the beloved comedy’s Christmas special and complained to bosses.
Production was suspended whilst the Beeb launched an investigation and he later said he “deeply regretted” his “clumsy attempt at a joke”.
But now the comedian, 69, has seemingly dismissed the outcry.
And he’s shared his belief the BBC came out of it well, as it showed they took action.
Brendan said: “The one thing that that incident did is give great awareness about racism, and great awareness about the BBC, they don’t take any messing,
“The context of it… it was completely taken out of context
“However I think in the long run it was a good thing, because it got people talking about it.”
Brendan was speaking for the first time about the row on an Irish YouTube show, Conversations With Gerry Kelly.
When his racist joke was first exposed in October, he told The Mirror he had made a “clumsy attempt at a joke” during a read-through of the scripts, where he was in character as Agnes Brown.
He added: “It backfired and caused offence which I deeply regret and for which I have apologised.”
Now he’s appeared to row back on that, by asserting all comedy “should offend”.
Continuing with Gerry Kelly, he said: “Comedy should offend somebody somewhere. Comedy should be right on the edge.
“So I think I will always keep trying to push it, keep trying to push the envelope, and keep trying to push more people.”
On negative feedback, he added: “The ones that love me, I love them. And the ones that don’t, f*ck them.
“They can get a remote and change the station.”
At the time, the BBC said it “acted immediately” and added: “Whilst we don’t comment on individuals, the BBC is against all forms of racism, and we have robust processes in place should issues ever arise.”
The programme, first shown on BBC One in 2011, has had four series and has long been a fixture on the BBC‘s Christmas TV schedules.
It won a National TV Award in September for best comedy.