Love Island hit with over 1,000 Ofcom complaints over Danny Bibby’s casting after n-word row
LOVE Island has been hit with over 1,000 Ofcom complaints over Danny Bibby.
The Sun exclusively reported the 25-year-old plumber used the n-word in a historic social media post that was unearthed last week.
And Ofcom received 1081 complaints from viewers for the episode on 15 July when Danny entered the villa.
The show was hit with another 426 complaints for the episode on 18 July when the show used Jay-Z and Kanye's West's song N****s in Paris to soundtrack a preview of new boy Danny in the villa after he was embroiled in the race row.
Fans had been asking for Danny to be removed from the villa since spotting the offensive slur in a comment he made on Instagram in 2019.
In a statement last week, he said: "I'd like to take the time to apologise to anyone that may have taken offence to my inappropriate remark. I never meant anything malicious by this comment at all.
"I am not a racist person and it's unacceptable language and ignorant. I meant no offence and feel like I have really learnt from my mistakes and will never use that word again. I am a kind loving person and hopefully you get to see that in the show."
Earlier in the day, Danny's dad apologised for his son's n-word post and insisted "he's not racist but this was a mistake".
Eagle-eyed fans had combed through his Instagram and found the comment.
In a photo of Danny posing in a bold leaf-patterned shirt while on holiday, a friend commented: "Champ" and a fist-bump emoji.
Danny replied: "My n****".
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The exchange happened 85 weeks ago in November 2019, when he was 23 years old.
Spotting the use of the offensive slur, a Love Island fan added: "I would take this down".
Whoever is running Danny's account quickly did just that - initially deleting the comment, before removing the post entirely.
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However, a similar image that the new Islander had posted remained live, and has been flooded with comments from horrified Love Island viewers.
One wrote: "Racist check" alongside a sick emoji, while many others tagged the show's official social media account and begged producers to kick Danny out.
Fans had also taken to Twitter to call for Danny's removal - with some even revealing that they have complained to Ofcom about the slur.
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Another added: "Sorry but new boy Danny is racist and they are making our queen KAZ GO ON A DATE WITH HIMMMMM???? Sorry but throw the casting crew and directors in the bin."
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A third shared a screenshot of their Ofcom confirmation, adding: "We demand that the racist islander Danny is taken off the show immediately."
One more agreed: "Does anyone have the Ofcom link? I’m reporting Danny expeditiously".
