BBC has issued an apology following a live broadcast with Orlando Bloom during which the actor uttered a racial slur.
Bloom was being interviewed on the popular show Radio 1, when the host Nick Grimshaw asked him about performing his own stunts on the upcoming movie Unlocked.
The actor replied, “I’m still a pikey from Kent, boy. I’m still a pikey from Kent. You don’t want to get on the wrong side of me, boy.”
The word ‘pikey’, is well known in the U.K. as a derogatory word used to describe a gypsy or traveller.
Messages must have immediately flooded into the station, as at the end of the broadcast Grimshaw said, “So good to have Orlando Bloom on the show… he’s a bit of a loose cannon. Apologies if you were offended by anything that Orlando may have said.”
Since then, BBC has issued a formal statement saying, “As with any live broadcast, we take great care to ensure all guests are briefed about their language before going on air.”
“We apologised to listeners afterwards for any offence caused.”
The actor has also since released his own statement, saying, “I’ve come from Kent and I grew up with a lot of, like, freewheeling, cool, interesting characters like that.”
“I certainly wasn’t taking a slant at that at all. I’m very respectful.”
