Now Ofcom releases Frankie Boyle for ‘vicious’ joke about petrol bombing of the royal family

Frankie Boyle has been cleared by TV watchdog Ofcom after he joked about petrol bombing of members of the royal family.

Boyle, 50, joked in the trailer for his Channel 4 documentary Frankie Boyle’s Farewell to the Monarchy that the British should bring “a bottle” filled with “gasoline” and a “burning rag” to the royal family.

But Ofcom now ruled the comment was ‘obviously comical’ and rejected 114 complaints alleging it incited violence against members of the royal family.

The regulator also dismissed a further 22 complaints alleging that the hour-long show, which aired on April 30 this year, was disrespectful to the late Queen and the royal family.

It comes after the regulator said it would take no action against Bridgerton star Adjoa Andoh’s description of the Buckingham Palace balcony as ‘terribly white’, which received 8,371 complaints.

Ofcom now ruled the comment was ‘obviously comical’ and dismissed 114 complaints alleging it incited violence against members of the royal family

In the show’s trailer, which aired in the run-up to King Charles’s coronation, he said, “Let’s go out into the street and bring them a bottle filled with petrol and a burning rag.”

And in the full documentary, he added, “I wasn’t joking when the Queen died.

“I kept a strict silence as I tried to sneak back out of her bedroom.”

Ofcom reviewed the program but said it raised no issues warranting an official investigation under the broadcasting code.

An Ofcom spokesperson said: ‘We have assessed complaints from viewers who felt this comedy program was disrespectful to the Royal Family.

“We took into account the audience’s expectations of the presenter, the fact that the program aired after the turning point and the advance warning showed that it contained potentially offensive views of the monarchy.”

Regarding Boyle’s comments in the trailer, the spokesperson added: “In our opinion, the delivery of Frankie Boyle and the nature of the trailer meant that these references were clearly comic rather than serious incitement to violence, and so will we do not pursue this further. .’

During the programme, Glasgow-born Boyle met with royal experts to gain insight into why they love the institution.

It was originally scheduled for last year but was postponed following the Queen’s death in September.

In July last year, Boyle was reprimanded for making a ‘rape joke’ about TV presenter Holly Willoughby.

Boyle on stage during day three of Latitude Festival 2022 at Henham Park last year, where he made a controversial joke about Holly Willoughby

The Scottish comedian described a game about ‘killing and shooting’ people – including Miss Willoughby – during a set at the Latitude Festival in Suffolk.

Sources recalled Boyle saying, “Of course I would kill her and then rape her. I’m kidding – I’d rape her first.’

The comedian also made jokes about Katie Price’s autistic son Harvey.

After his remark about Harvey and a series of offensive jokes about the Paralympic Games, Channel 4 bosses ruled out the possibility of him returning to the channel in 2013.

Before getting his New World Order show, Boyle was suspended from a Comic Relief broadcast by BBC bosses after saying he wished the Queen had died before her Diamond Jubilee.

In a 10-minute routine at Russell Brand’s Give It Up For Comic Relief event at London’s Wembley Arena in 2013, he also drew breath from the 12,500-strong crowd with a gag at Oscar Pistorious.

Boyle’s routine was deemed so bad in taste that it was dropped from the show’s ‘almost live’ broadcast on BBC Three