The BBC has issued a statement after receiving complaints over a segment on The One Show in which guest Dan Stevens took aim at Boris Johnson.
Last week, the former Downton Abbey star was a guest on the BBC show to promote his new thriller Gaslit, which centres around US president Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal.
Describing the show, Dan explained: “Well, what you’ve got is a criminal for a leader, who is wrapped in a messy war, embroiled in a stupid scandal and surrounded by ambitious idiots, and really should resign.”
He then drew gasps from the studio, when he added: “No, I’m sorry that’s the intro to Boris Johnson.”
The scene quickly went viral, with the BBC confirming that they have received some complaints about Dan’s remarks.
Defending The One Show, a spokesperson said in a statement (via Metro): “The One Show is a live topical entertainment programme where the hosts are joined by a variety of guests to discuss a broad range of subjects.
“Actor Dan Stevens was a guest on Wednesday 13 April and made comments about Boris Johnson in response to a question from the hosts about his new TV project before going on to talk about the series. These comments were taken in jest and the hosts moved the conversation on to the focus of the interview.”
Dan recently said of Johnson: “There’s always somebody up to some shady shit. It’s very much headline news here. I hadn’t really realised until I got on the ground.
“I mean, it’s one thing to sort of read about it from across the pond. But you know, I got here and it’s on every radio bulletin. Absolutely outrageous. And yeah, it got me quite fired up.
“I thought it was worth highlighting the extraordinary similarities.”