Satire rapped over offensive term

The producers of The Mash Report have been rapped on the knuckles for using the word ‘tranny’ in one episode of the satirical show.

In a segment that aired in January, Rachel Parris read out a number of fictional tweets, including one using the handle @Tranny_Magnet.

The supposed comment had nothing to do with gender issues, but joked: ‘Don’t let the NHS rip you off with their expensive flu jabs. Immunise yourself by drinking other people’s snot’.

One viewer complained to the BBC’s  Executive Complaints Unit that the term was offensive.

The panel noted that research indicates that in most contexts the word ‘tranny’ is considered "strong and problematic’ and viewed as offensive and hurtful towards LGBT people. 

They ruled: ‘In this instance, there was no contextual justification for any offence given by showing the Twitter handle @Tranny_Magnet.

‘The programme-makers have noted and discussed this word’s potential for offence.’

The Executive Complaints Unit previously rejected complaints that a Mash Report cartoon of Piers Morgan and President Trump was too tasteless for broadcast.

Morgan had accused the show of ‘homophobia’ over the drawing, which showed him with his nose up Trump’s backside in response to accusations he had been too soft on the US president in an interview.

The Good Morning Britain anchor insisted: ‘It portrays two straight men in a homosexual act, so yes, it’s homophobic’, but host Nish Kumar called the charge ‘weirdly patronising’.

The comic added at the time: ‘Obviously it’s an incredibly crude joke, no doubt about it, it’s not high-minded, but it’s in a context.’

Published: 21 Sep 2018