BBC apologizes for asking Andrew Scott sexual questions at professional event
The BBC recently apologized for asking the All Of Us Strangers star about Barry Keoghan's penis at the BAFTAs, but he's not the only this has happened to
Aux News Andrew Scott
What happened to the days of asking movie stars about… oh we don’t know… the movie they actually starred in on the red carpet? Hollywood may be glamorous and more than a little sexy, but it’s also a workplace. No one should have to answer a question about their colleague’s naked body in their place of employment unless they’re a dermatologist scanning another dermatologist for moles or something. Which would still be kind of weird.
The latest offender to participate in this incredibly frustrating trend is the BBC, who subjected All Of Us Strangers star Andrew Scott to an icky and repeated line of questioning about Barry Keoghan’s penis while covering the BAFTA awards earlier this week. In a video that has since gone viral, BBC correspondent Colin Paterson asked Scott, who is gay, how well he knew fellow Irish actor Barry Keoghan before pressing him to comment on the latter’s naked dance scene at the end of Saltburn, a movie Scott had nothing to do with. Scott, visibly uncomfortable, eventually walks away from the interviewer while he continues to pepper him with questions. Warning: it’s a pretty rough watch.
After widespread backlash on Twitter/X in which fans accused Paterson’s questions of being homophobic, “cringe-worthy,” and generally creepy, BBC issued a statement this morning apologizing for the whole incident. Well, sort of. “Saltburn is a film which has had cultural impact, with Barry Keoghan’s scene at the end gaining a lot of attention in particular—something the actor has addressed himself,” they wrote. “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.” The statement also acknowledges that Saltburn director, Emerald Fennell, and Sophie Ellis-Bextor, whose song “Murder On The Dance Floor” is used in the scene, were questioned about it as well. While this may also have been uncomfortable, at least the two women were actually involved in the film. Scott, again, just happens to be an actor with a movie out around the same time who shares a homeland with Keoghan.
The statement concludes: “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.”
Unfortunately, Scott isn’t the only actor who’s been subjected to this sort of overtly sexual and extremely uncomfortable line of questioning in recent months. In January, Ayo Edebiri was asked to comment on her The Bear co-star Jeremy Allen White’s sexy Calvin Klein ad by two separate interviewers on the Golden Globes red carpet—a subject she clearly had no interest in engaging with. Just this week, TikTok influencer Harry Daniels also received a lot of negative attention for videos from the People’s Choice Awards in which he asked stars like Billie Eilish and America Ferrera if they’d rather have a “gay son or thot daughter,” to their visible discomfort.
Not only is this trend gross and invasive, but it’s also just plain boring. Actors put an unbelievable amount of work into making the movies that get nominated for these awards, and that’s what they should get to talk about during the celebration of that effort. It’s not even hard to get them to talk about movies they weren’t involved in (at least in Edebiri’s case) as long as the conversation hinges on the actual movie itself. Everything else should stay off the carpet.
31 Comments
I wish Scott had said:
“Meh. Barry’s penis is OK. But have you seen Sydney Sweeney’s tits? WHOA”And then confused them all.
I hate to break it to you but hearing actors talk about their films is also boring, albeit far less pervy/creepy than this.
“Hey, did you see that guy’s junk? Eh? Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more!”
Never mind the quality, feel the width!
“How’s his cock? Not as big as the one I’m talking to now.”
Except they wanted him to say more. They asked him three times.
They say if you ask it three times in a mirror, the cock appears behind you.
Uh, BBC?
Yeah, hi. After Jimmy Saville and John Barrowman, maybe don’t go around asking people about their junk?
Jimmy Saville never asked anyone about their junk. That would imply he cared about having permission to touch it.
Really surprising this. Paterson has always seemed a very nice chap.
It seemed like he thought it light-hearted in the moment and didn’t appreciate how uncomfortable it was, rather than being malicious.
I’m sure you’re right but it’s pretty childish.
In that case he was either drunk or trying out some new material for his stand-up act.
His insistence was almost aggressive.
“Saltburn is a film which has had cultural impactIs it though?It’s barely been on my radar and people will have forgotten it in a month or two.
It was a flash in the pan. The moment is over. (Though it was a fun watch)
It really went down the drain fast and people are trying their best to lap it up.
Don’t you mean it was a wank in the bath?
I feel it was an attempt at a modern Cruel Intentions, silly and pervy and a hit with the 20 somethings who it felt targeted for. Probably won’t have the same staying power as the former, but the buzz was big.
Red carpet interviewers – as well as some print “journalists” – have been asking gross questions for decades. If this is the example that causes a change to occur, great, but it’s not a new thing. Event organizers should be barring any media person who can’t behave themself.
“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.”“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.”
Did the Beeb expect a “light-hearted” response of a similar nature to the question? Because the question was basically “How bout the naked man dancing, eh? Wink wink, nudge nudge.. Oh please, spoil away, eh? eh?” (I’ve added embellishments to convey the intent.)
Followed up with “There’s been a lot of talk about prosthetics. How well do you know him? .. Too much? Too much?” Yeah, I didn’t make up or edit that last question. That’s an actual quote.
What were the Beeb going for asking this to a gay actor? He was hardly going to say “Fwoah.. Dick!” was he. Oh sorry, he’s British so his response was probably expected to be more like “Yes, indeed it was a lovely penis. We’d often discuss it over tea with Barry.”
Oh but the Beeb didn’t intend offence. Well, thanks for feeling a need to clarify that. Wankers.
.. he’s British He’s not though
You’re right, my bad.
I like to think they asked in increasingly silly ways. “What was his johnson like, huh? The ol’ finger and knuckles, describe it! How many tallies can he WHACK with it, Andrew?!”
“…asked stars like Billie Eilish and America Ferrera if they’d rather have a “gay son or thot daughter…”I know time is a circle and trends resurface and whatnot but can we not bring back the Perez Hilton-type shittery of the 2000’s, please?
It seems pretty generous to call it an apology. “It was a joke!” with a side of “sorry if anyone was offended” might technically reach the lowest apologetic bar, but it’s on its tip-toes.
I’m sure I sound like a geezer but this is where we are with the demise of journalism. With professional journalists, even the fluff journos, there was a sense of what was serious, important or fun. A pro can read the room and know what the goal is for everyone to have a good time.
I’ve been looking for a full-time journo job…and yeah. I have neither training, nor inclination, nor lack of moral fibre to do the sort of shit they’re asking. Even our nation broadcaster is a race to the bottom.
Andrew Scott is Gay!?So you’re telling me there’s a chance.
It was in bad form, but at least they don’t ask the interviewees to ride the sybian anymore.
“Hollywood may be glamorous and more than a little sexy, but it’s also a workplace.”This story has very little to do with Hollywood or the American film industry.