Stephen Fry to host BAFTAs 2017 despite controversial 'bag lady' comments

The ex-QI presenter caused outrage online last year

Stephen Fry (Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images)

Stephen Fry will return to host the BAFTAs once more despite causing controversy with his infamous comments about Oscar-winning costume designer Jenny Beavan at the 2016 ceremony.

While hosting the event earlier this year, the 58-year-old comedian poked fun at Beavan’s choice of outfit, saying: “Only one of the great cinematic costume designers would come to an awards ceremony dressed as a bag lady.”

However, following outrage on social media, Fry ended up quitting Twitter between February and August, writing on the social media platform before his silence: “Jenny Beavan is a friend and joshing is legitimate. Christ, I want to leave the planet.”

The Mad Max: Fury Road costume designer responded by saying she was “absolutely not upset” by the joke because Fry was a close friend.

Director of production at BAFTA, Clare Brown, told Variety of Fry's return: “With Stephen Fry and hosts of that caliber with that sense of humor you have to let them have their rein a little bit.

"We will have a script, quite obviously, and we have to run to time… It was a bit of a storm in a tea-cup. We felt that it was blown out of proportion, and we are actually looking forward very much to working with him again.”

Next year’s BAFTA ceremony marks Fry’s eleventh time hosting and the ceremony’s return to the London Royal Albert Hall, the first time the event has been held there since 1997.

The ceremony - which takes place 12 February 2017 - will include a performance by Cirque du Soleil, while the nominations will be announced 10 January 2017.