Football broadcaster Gary Lineker has told fans the BBC received a complaint about a bald joke he made on Match Of The Day.
Lineker opened Sunday’s episode with a jibe aimed at fellow pundits and former footballers Alan Shearer and Danny Murphy.
“It’s a strong start to the premier league season. Real hair-raising stuff at times unless you’re Alan Shearer and Danny Murphy,” he said.
Both Murphy and Shearer, who are bald, rolled their eyes at the joke and then continued with the segment.
Then Lineker doubled down on Twitter.
It’s not the first time the 58-year-old has made a bald joke on the late-night show. Replying to a photograph of himself next to Shearer in 2016, Lineker – who tops the BBC’s most paid list with a salary of £1.75-1.76 million per year – said: “Jeez, my bald spot is nearly as large as yours.”
Internal guidelines say the BBC is “committed to reflecting and representing the diversity of the UK”. When HuffPost UK contacted the broadcaster they said: “We don’t disclose complaint figures so as such won’t be commenting on this.”
The original segment is still on the BBC Sport Twitter feed, where it has been viewed 108,000 times since the first broadcast.
And it’s not surprise that Twitter had a lot of thoughts about Lineker’s opener.
“I can take a joke, but have you not noticed that bald blokes are literally the only people left in society that can be shat on with impunity?” tweeted one person. “Nobody would consider making a joke like that about a bald woman. I started going bald at fourteen; utterly destroyed my confidence.”
Another agreed: “On the one hand, I guess all topics are valid comedy-themes, and on the other, there aren’t many parts of a person’s body that people would openly ridicule (especially if it’s something they haven’t chosen, or can’t change). It depends on the kind of world you want to live in...”.
“Please stop with the bald jokes! Not funny! Lineker’s bald jokes are getting so boring,” pleaded a third person.
Half of all men will suffer hair loss at some point in their lives and according to research by Mintel, it’s the most common worry among men when it comes to their appearance, even leading to men feeling depressed in 38% of cases.
Even so, some viewers thought that people needed to “lighten up” about Lineker’s jibes and were “snowflakes” for being offended.
“Complaints re; a joke about baldness? Some people need to get a life and get a sense of humour,” tweeted one man, while another said: “Really? That person needs to lighten up and get a life and sense of humour. I’m a baldy and I make bald jokes all the time.”