Sabrina Carpenter and Charli XCX caused a stir at the Brit Awards last weekend, prompting 825 complaints to media watchdog Ofcom. The majority of the complaints involved Carpenter’s pre-watershed opening performance and Charli XCX’s outfit. Carpenter, a US star, opened the awards show at The O2 in London on Saturday evening.
She performed a mash-up of her hits “Espresso” and “Bed Chem” along with “Rule Britannia!” while wearing a red sparkly military-style mini-dress with matching stockings and suspenders. During the show, broadcast live on ITV, she was seen having a close encounter with a dancer dressed as a soldier wearing a bearskin hat. Charli XCX, who won five awards, wore a see-through black dress.
She addressed the controversy over her outfit during one of her speeches on the night, saying, “I heard that ITV were complaining about my nipples. I feel like we’re in the era of ‘free the nipple’ though, right?”
An Ofcom spokesperson said, “We are assessing the complaints against our rules, but are yet to decide whether or not to investigate.” The complaints numbers are not huge by Ofcom’s standards.
Ofcom assessing Brit Awards complaints
In 2021, there were 58,000 complaints regarding Piers Morgan’s criticism of the Duchess of Sussex on Good Morning Britain, and an episode of Celebrity Big Brother on Channel 4 got 45,159 complaints in 2007. The television watershed is at 21:00, marking the time when TV programs potentially unsuitable for children can be broadcast. The Brit Awards began at 20:15 GMT and ended at 22:40.
Charli XCX won album of the year for her summer hit “Brat.” She also picked up best dance act, song of the year for her track “Guess,” featuring Billie Eilish, plus songwriter of the year. Carpenter was honored with the recently resurrected global success award, which may have been brought back to lure her to perform, given her successful international career. This isn’t the first time the Brit Awards have prompted complaints.
Rapper Dave’s performance at a previous awards show was criticized but ultimately deemed acceptable by Ofcom. Similarly, complaints were raised about Kanye West’s language during his performance, with parts of his song “All Day” muted by ITV. The Brit Awards continue to be a source of both celebration and controversy, reflecting the evolving landscape of pop culture and media standards.