Ofcom has rejected more than 3,000 complaints made about Britain’s Got Talent finalist Nabil Abdulrashid’s comedy routines.
Nabil was among the most popular contestants on this year’s series of BGT, with his stand-up sets – which referenced the comedian’s experiences of racism and Islamophobia in Britain – earning him a spot in the grand final.
However, seemingly not everyone was sold on Nabil’s comedy, with almost 1,000 people complaining to Ofcom about his routine in the semi-final.
An additional 2,200 also contacted the media regulator, upset about his performance in the final.
Ofcom has now announced that it will not be taking the matter any further, saying in a statement: “The comedian’s satirical take on his life experiences as a Black Muslim was likely to have been within audience expectations.”
The TV watchdog previously threw out more than 24,000 complaints made about dance troupe Diversity’s performance during the BGT semi-finals, which referenced the killing of George Floyd and the global protests in support of Black Lives Matter that followed.
Nabil made light of these complaints during his routine in the BGT final, joking: “I am glad we are here. I thought we wouldn’t make it. A lot of complaints.
“They complained because we said Black Lives Matter. Thousands of complaints. I am shocked so many of them know how to write.”
He then added: “Hopefully if I annoy them today they can progress on to words. They even wrote complaints about me. That’s what upsets me. What did I say to offend anybody?
“You would think I came out here and said something really inflammatory like, ‘Winston Churchill was black’. But really, he was. And I can prove it. If you don’t believe me, when was the last time you met a white man named Winston?”
Following his first audition, Nabil was guaranteed a spot in the BGT semi-final, after earning the Golden Buzzer from judge Alesha Dixon.
He eventually finished in fourth place in the final public vote, behind fellow comedian Steve Royle, choir Sign Along With Us and Jon Courtenay, who won the show with his comedy song about the events of 2020.