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Frankie Boyle has been cleared by Ofcom following his comment about petrol bombing members of the British Royal Family.
The 50-year-old joked that Britons should “raise a bottle” filled with “petrol” and a “burning rag” to the Royal Family in the trailer for his documentary, Frankie Boyle’s Farewell to the Monarchy for Channel 4.
The comment prompted 114 people to complain, but the television watchdog Ofcom has now ruled it “clearly comedic”.
Ofcom threw out a further 22 complaints which claimed the documentary was “disrespectful” to the late Queen Elizabeth II and her family.
The show was aired on April 30 this year ahead of King Charles III’s Coronation.
Within the trailer, Frankie said: “Let’s get out on the streets and raise a bottle to them filled with petrol and a burning rag.”
He said within the show: “I didn’t make any jokes when the Queen died. I maintained a strict silence as I tried to sneak back out of her bedroom.”
Following an assessment with Ofcom, the watchdog said Frankie’s words did not raise issues which warranted an official investigation under the Broadcasting Code.
“We assessed complaints from viewers who felt this comedy programme was disrespectful towards the Royal Family,” An Ofsted spokesperson told Daily Mail.
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“We took into account audience expectations of the presenter, the fact the programme was broadcast after the watershed, and the advance warning displayed that it contained potentially offensive views about the monarchy.”
They added: “In our view, Frankie Boyle’s delivery and the nature of the trailer, meant that these references were clearly comedic rather than a serious incitement to violence, and so we will not be pursuing this further.”
The show was meant to be broadcast last year but it was postponed following the Queen’s death.
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It saw the Scottish comic meet with royal experts to learn about the Royal Family and its workings.
Last year, Frankie was cleared by Ofcom over comments he made on the Channel 4 show The Last Leg about former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
He said the politician looked “like someone injected Hitler’s DNA into a panna cotta” and he hoped that “vent opens up in the ground and clawed hands drag [Johnson] screaming into hell.”
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