Mrs Brown’s Boys filming suspended after star made ‘racist joke’
15 October 2024, 14:34
TV bosses suspended work on Mrs Brown’s Boys after its star Brendan O’Carroll reportedly made a racist joke on set.
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Work on the sitcom’s Christmas special was paused as the BBC 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 at BBC Scotland’s Pacific Quay studios in Glasgow on Monday but resumed following a subsequent apology from O’Carroll.
He 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.”
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”.
