Britain’s Got Talent: Alesha Dixon’s Black Lives Matter necklace prompts 1,900 complaints

Series judge wore jewellery in solidarity with dance group Diversity

Alesha Dixon (ITV)

Ofcom has received more than 1,900 complaints after Alesha Dixon showed support for Diversity by wearing a Black Lives Matter necklace on Britain’s Got Talent.

On Saturday night’s episode (19 September), Dixon – who is a judge on BGT – wore a layered gold necklace made up of the BLM letters.

An Ofcom spokesman told the BBC: "We are assessing these complaints against our broadcasting rules, but are yet to decide whether or not to investigate."

Dixon wore the necklace after a Black Lives Matter-themed performance by dance group Diversity, which featured Ashley Banjo being pinned down by a police officer, in reference to the death of George Floyd.

The performance sparked more than 24,500 complaints to Ofcom, with some viewers accusing it of being “too political” for a Saturday night entertainment programme and perceiving it to be racist against white people.

ITV came out in full support of the dance, and over the weekend it took out full-page adverts in every national newspaper that stated: “ITV stand with Diversity.”

Ofcom also said it would not investigate the routine, saying it did not consider it to be racist.