Outrage over gag on Black-ish

Channel 4 has issued a qualified apology over a joke that made light of the Irish troubles.

The broadcaster said it was sorry ‘if any offence was caused’ over a gag about the IRA made on its imported US show Black-ish.

In a clip widely shared online, two parents – Dre and Bow – talk about their son, Junior, becoming a Republican.

The mother misunderstands the situation a couple of times, believing he is either a Banana Republic shopper or a notary public, until thinking he has become a member of the IRA.

She sighs: ‘So if you got to take down a couple of fish and chip shops to be free of British rule, you got to do what you got to do.’

The gag has been linked to  the 1993 Shankill bomb, which killed nine people plus the IRA bomber, and injured 57.

Gary Murray, whose teenage sister Leanne was killed in the attack, said it was ‘disgusting; that a joke had ‘been made at my sister's expense.

Belfast councillor Julie-Anne Corr-Johnston added the clip made a ‘mockery of the grief’ of the victims' families.

The episode was originally broadcast on the ABC network in the US in 2015, but was only shown in the UK last week.

Offence was sparked when the clip was posed on the All4 Facebook page. It has now been taken down.

Channel 4 said: ‘The clip was taken from the long-running American sitcom Black-ish and was posted on social media, out of the context of the episode, in error and has since been removed. We apologise if any offence has been caused.’

Here is the offending scene:

Published: 24 Nov 2017