BBC’s Non-Apology for Homophobic Interview With Andrew Scott Is Extremely Lacking

Actor Andrew Scott was asked a highly inappropriate question at the BAFTAs this month. He was walking the red carpet when he was stopped by a BBC journalist, Colin Paterson, and Paterson for some reason saw fit to ask him about another actor’s nude scene.

The scene in question was the ending scene of Saltburn in which Barry Keoghan’s character dances around naked. Paterson asked Scott if he knew Keoghan, and when Scott replied in the affirmative, Paterson began peppering him with questions about Saltburn’s nudity, ending with “There was a lot of talk about prosthetics. How well do you know [Keoghan]?” Scott, who had looked extremely uncomfortable throughout the interview, walked away at that point. “Too much?” Paterson asked Scott’s retreating back while laughing.

It didn’t take long for the clip to make it onto social media and many people were shocked at the rudeness of the interviewer.

Now, almost a week later, the BBC has addressed the incident.

The BBC has released a statement on the issue

The BBC’s statement is not quite as impactful as one might have hoped. In fact, it comes off as rather defensive.

“Our question to Andrew Scott was meant to be a light hearted reflection of the discussion around the scene and was not intended to cause offence,” it reads. “Saltburn writer and director, Emerald Fennell, and Sophie Ellis-Bextor, whose song ‘Murder on the Dancefloor’ was used in the sequence, were also asked about the scene.”

However, Emerald Fennell and Sophie Ellis-Bextor were connected to the movie, while Scott had no connection at all to it. It seems he was asked about Keoghan’s nudity for one reason only: He’s gay. It was that element of homophobia that outraged people, no matter how “light hearted” the question was.

The BBC statement concluded, “We do, however, accept that the specific question asked to Andrew Scott was misjudged. After speaking with Andrew on the carpet, our reporter acknowledged on air that his questioning may have gone too far and that he was sorry if this was the case.”

A simple “too much?” said laughingly to someone walking away from you is not the same thing as a direct face-to-face apology and there’s no indication that Scott has received this. The statement ignores the casual homophobia implicit in the interview and simply comes off as an attempt to save face. Scott deserves better.

(featured image: Samir Hussein/WireImage)