Ofcom is set to assess the case of BBC Breakfast host Naga Munchetty after she was reprimanded by her employers for criticising Donald Trump.
The BBC has suffered a fierce backlash for upholding a complaint against the presenter, after she said the US President’s call for a group of female politicians to “go back” to their own countries was “embedded in racism”.
Naga has since received the backing of BBC bosses, including director-general Lord Tony Hall, who said the broadcaster was not impartial when it came to racism.
A spokesman for Ofcom said: “We have recently received complaints relating to this programme and we are assessing the content against our own broadcasting rules.”
It is understood that the assessment relates to the programming, based on Ofcom rules, and not to the internal procedures of the BBC.
The Corporation’s Executive Complaints Unit (ECU) ruled that Naga crossed the line when she commented on statements made by Mr Trump.
She told her co-presenter Dan Walker during a July 17 broadcast: “Every time I have been told, as a woman of colour, to go back to where I came from, that was embedded in racism,” adding: “I’m not accusing anyone of anything here, but you know what certain phrases mean.”
Questioned further by her co-host, she said she was “absolutely furious a man in that position thinks it’s OK to skirt the lines by using language like that”.
In partially upholding the complaint, the BBC’s ECU said: “Our editorial guidelines do not allow for journalists to then give their opinions about the individual making the remarks or their motives for doing so. Those judgments are for the audience to make.”
After the BBC ruled her remarks had gone “beyond what the guidelines allow for”, they’ve since addressed the criticism by expanding on their verdict.
On Thursday, Radio 1 Breakfast Show host Greg joined the debate, tweeting: “Been reading and thinking so much about this today because it made me feel uneasy.
“I think my issue with it is that you have to make sure people who bravely say things that highlight how vulnerable they’ve felt are looked after by the guidelines as well. Bloody love Naga.”
Fellow DJ and BBC star Trevor Nelson also spoke out in support of his colleague, insisting that unless “you’ve experienced [racism], it’s hard to understand”.
“I agree 100% with @BBCNaga on this,” he tweeted. “I don’t see anything wrong with speaking your truth. I am a mere DJ so don’t do politics on my shows but every person of colour knows exactly what that phrase ‘go back home’ means . Unless you’ve experienced it, it’s hard to truly understand.”