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BBC denies Evans was racist to black scientist
Chris Evans told Maggie Aderin-Pocock he could barely see her
The BBC has dismissed claims that Chris Evans made racist comments about a black space scientist, after the TV presenter said he could barely see her.
Maggie Aderin-Pocock - who among other projects is working on the James Webb space telescope, the planned replacement for Hubble - appeared on The One Show on Friday to talk about last week's lunar eclipse.
During the discussion, Evans observed that the last couple of days had been particularly good for "space-spectating" with the lunar eclipse and a fly-past of the International Space Station. He asked if there were any more highlights to look forward to.
Aderin-Pocock said: "There's plenty out there to see. Unfortunately not tonight."
To which Evans replied: "It's terrible tonight. I can barely see you to be honest."
Aderin-Pocock laughed at Evans's joke, but not everyone was amused. Some viewers took to Twitter to express their dismay: "WTF? Did Chris Evans just make a racist quip?" asked one.
It wasn't the only uncomfortable moment for Evans in the discussion.
Earlier, the presenter and his co-host Alex Jones discussed the origins
of the name 'Aderin'. Evans said to his guest: "It's Welsh but you're
Caribbean." Aderin-Pocock immediately corrected him: "No, no Nigerian."
The BBC, which has received 56 complaints from viewers who saw Evans's comments as racist, dismissed the criticism, telling the Daily Mail: "This was a quip in reference to the lights being specifically dimmed in the studio. It was absolutely not a racist remark and the guest did not draw any inference from the comment." ·
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I have toi admit that I donot think the comment as used in this context as racist, but then the BBC is such a racist organisation itself that it would be very difficult for it to discern what is racist and what is not. Over the years I have been collecting dozens of examples which would support this view.
Oh please! Leave him alone. He said nothing wrong. All this racism stuff is getting out of line. People will be afraid to open their mouths if this keeps up.
Why do certain people shout racist at every opportunity. How can this be a racist remark? There is no derogatory reference to colour of skin or racial origins as far as I can tell. Please can we have some degree of rationality in these situations. Are the complainants racist, are they are attacking Chris Evans because he is white? Ridiculous!
The only 'issue' here is that Chris's comment is just something anyone with a bit of color has to suffer through from time to time; not because its offensive in anyway, but because we've heard it too many times (enter fake smile/forced chuckle)
Akin to friends proudly holding up their vacationed suntanned arm next to mine and exclaiming.. I'm almost as dark as you"
I saw that interview and heard Evans' remark. I don't possibly see how it could be racist and I doubt that Dr Aderin-Pocock could either.
What this does show is that certain persons will complain about anything and just for the sake of complaining.
Personally I don't like Evans as a presenter; I find him loud, boorish and rather pathetic; on this occasion he has done nothing wrong.