Sir Trevor McDonald blasts Mrs Brown's Boys star after 'racist joke made on set'
by Kit Heren · LBCBy Kit Heren
Sir Trevor McDonald has hit out at the star of Mrs Brown's Boys after production was suspended because of a racist joke.
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Sir Trevor branded the offensive quip, said to have been made by Brendan O'Carroll, as "crude and offensive and insulting".
Work on the sitcom’s Christmas special was paused as TV bosses investigated the incident following complaints by cast and crew members.
The Irish comedian, 63, is understood to have used an offensive term during a read-through last Wednesday.
The start of rehearsals were delayed on Monday but resumed following a subsequent apology from O’Carroll.
Read more: Mrs Brown’s Boys filming suspended after star made ‘racist joke’
O'Carroll told the Mirror: “At a read-through of the Mrs Brown’s Boys Christmas specials, there was a clumsy attempt at a joke, where a racial term was implied.
“It backfired and caused offence, which I deeply regret and for which I have apologised.”
Legendary newsreader Sir Trevor told the Mail that the joke "couldn't have been said without a desire to hurt and insult really. It's not even funny."
When asked what TV bosses should do with the show, Sir Trevor said: "I would probably have very harsh words with the person who said that.
"And said the society and the community in which we live regards that sort of stuff as unnecessarily crude and offensive."
A source told the Mirror: “The whole production of the Christmas special was paused while the investigation was carried out. The entire cast and crew stood down in the wake of the comment, as the BBC tried to get to the bottom of it.”
O’Carroll created the sitcom which first aired in 2011 and plays the title character Agnes Brown.
The show has won Best Comedy at the National Television Awards six times with a fifth series recently commissioned for which production is set to get underway in spring.
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Last month, O’Carroll said: “We are going to film another series in April and May. It’s lovely to be asked to do another one.”
He also teased the release of the Christmas special and said: “I can foresee Mrs Brown’s Christmas will be just as chaotic as ever. Except this year, I think she’s going to be happy with her Christmas tree.”
Despite the show’s success ratings, it has always proved divisive.
O’Carroll, from Dublin, said: “I’m the same with music and with comedy, it’s subjective, you know? It really is. It’s what you call Marmite - people either love it or they hate it.”
The BBC’s swift action came in the wake of the Huw Edwards scandal after the former TV anchor was found guilty last month of paying sex offender Alex Williams up to £1,500 after receiving images of child abuse.
Edwards was sentenced to six months imprisonment, suspended for two years.
On Monday, Director-general of the BBC Tim Davie said no one at the corporation is “indispensable” as he said the broadcaster would no longer refer to prominent presenters as “talent”.