Good Morning Britain has been hit with over 800 Ofcom complaints following comments made by Richard Madeley last week.
855 people complained to the TV watchdog, accusing Richard of “playing down” death threats that Sir Keir Starmer was receiving.
What did Richard Madeley say on GMB?
Richard’s controversial comments came last Tuesday (February 15) during a discussion of death threats Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer had been receiving.
Mr. Starmer was on the receiving end of death threats following a false claim Boris Johnson made about the leader of the opposition.
Mr. Johnson made the false allegation that Mr. Starmer had failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile.
Read more: Richard Madeley breaks his silence after GMB ‘death threats’ backlash
Speaking about the death threats Mr. Starmer had been receiving, Richard asked: “Is it that big of a deal?” after a guest suggested politicians get death threats “all the time”.
Unsurprisingly, Richard’s comment didn’t go down well with the viewers at home.
855 of them complained to Ofcom, whilst others simply took to Twitter to slam the 65-year-0ld.
What did viewers say?
Viewers didn’t hold back when slamming the star on Twitter for his comments last week.
“Caught up with Richard Madeley’s comments to his Tory-leaning guest yesterday about death threats being sent to Keir Starmer and other MPs not being that big a deal. Sackable offence,” one viewer said.
“Complained to Ofcom for the first time in my life earlier,” another said.
“WHY do you continue to employ #richardmadeley after his crass and incendiary comments regarding @Keir_Starmer‘s death threats?” a third asked ITV.
Richard Madeley’s apology slammed
Richard was clearly aware of the backlash as he addressed his comments the following morning.
At the very beginning of the show, which he was hosting alongside Charlotte Hawkins, Richard spoke about what he said.
“It was a really busy show yesterday, we had so much to do. I want to say one thing very quickly at the top here,” he said.
He continued, saying: “I tried to pose a question on one of our early discussions on the programme about how prolific online death threats are. I didn’t actually quite press it properly, I didn’t go into it enough.
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“I just want to reiterate the obvious statement that death threats clearly are never acceptable.”
If Richard was expecting that to be the end of it, he was very much mistaken. The 65-year-old was slammed yet again on Twitter, with many criticising his “apology” this time.
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