Hundreds of people complained to the BBC about THAT Have I Got News For You episode with Jo Brand
It seems the British viewing public was not happy about the panellists' jokes about sexual harassment
The Have I Got News for You episode which saw host Jo Brand shoot down an all-male panel over sexual harassment jokes has become the most complained-about programme on the BBC in the last fortnight.
New figures published by the Corporation reveal that the 3rd November edition of the comedy panel show attracted a substantial 234 complaints regarding the programme's treatment of the allegations of sexual misconduct in Westminster.
In a segment looking at a recent headline about the scandal, she hit back at Have I Got News For You team captain Ian Hislop after he chuckled: “Some of this is not high level crime, is it, compared to say Putin or Trump?”
However, Brand cut Hislop off, saying: “If I could only say that as the only representative of the female gender here today, I know it’s not high level but it doesn’t have to be high level for women to feel under siege in somewhere like the House of Commons.
“And actually for women, if you’re constantly being harassed even in a small way, that builds up and that wears you down."
As the audience cheered, she joked: “Sorry, I thought I was on Question Time for a minute."
Hislop responded, “No, and as you point out with four blokes sitting around you we’re hardly in a position to say, ‘That’s rubbish’.”
The episode also featured Daily Mail journalist Quentin Letts, who made several controversial jokes, and comedian Miles Jupp.
Responding to criticism earlier this month, the BBC issued a statement explaining why the show had addressed the allegations of sexual misconduct in Westminster – and why this line-up was chosen.
Pointing out HIGNFY's "reputation for irreverent satire" and "jokes and provocative comment," the BBC argued: "The programme has dealt with many subjects over the last 27 years, and this show reflected the speculation around the biggest news story at the time of record. Given the extensive coverage that arose from allegations of sexual misconduct in Westminster it would have been odd for Have I Got News For You to ignore this story.
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"Guests are booked in advance, rather than for particular topics, and we try very hard to book guests from all areas of the political spectrum. This means there will sometimes be panel members with views that the audience and others on the show may disagree with.
"We do not necessarily share or endorse the views of the panellists and their material doesn’t reflect the opinions of the BBC. The host is also there to chair the show and to add perspective and balance when needs be – as we saw when Jo Brand made her points so eloquently in taking panel members to task in this edition."
According to The Guardian, the figures also show that the BBC received 8,377 complaints in total between 30th October and 12th November. Of these, 5,529 were about specific programmes.
The broadcaster has released this information about complaints for the first time after media regulator Ofcom told it to be more transparent.
