A COMPLAINT about a Late, Late Showappearance by the dance troupe, The Satanic Sluts, has been rejected by the Broadcasting Complaints Commission (BCC).
One of the four members of The Satanic Sluts is Georgina Baillie, who is a grand-daughter of Andrew Sachs, the Fawlty Towersactor who received prank phonecalls from Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand. The group performed on Pat Kenny's RTÉ 1 programme on November 21st last year.
A complainant to the BCC argued their routine was “indecent, shocking and degrading to women”. Responding to the complaint, RTÉ said the performance did not stray beyond the grounds of decency. “Their performance is a form of burlesque. This form of entertainment is by definition a bit risqué.”
The BCC agreed the choreography was “somewhat risqué” but noted that “while three of the women may have been clad in underwear, stockings and suspenders, it was in the context of a burlesque performance” which was broadcast at 10.40pm.
The commission said it did not consider the content indecent or degrading, and ruled the item was unlikely to cause widespread offence.
Meanwhile, a complaint about a "Jonathan Rossesque" item on the Tubridy Tonightshow was also rejected. The complainant said the comedian Jason Byrne, who was a guest on the show on November 22nd last year, referred to the Taoiseach Brian Cowen as "Elephant Man" and "acted out gyrations that went with this description".
In its response, RTÉ noted that Tubridy distanced himself from the content: “Ryan Tubridy said on air that it wasn’t right to dwell on Mr Cowen’s physical characteristics.” RTÉ said it would issue a “timely reminder” to performers in live shows that jokes should not be made about peoples physical characteristics . Welcoming this, the BCC said the content of the broadcast could have crossed the line, “but for the actions of the presenter”.
