Britain’s Got Talent Titanic drag act responds to complaints: ‘Wasn’t my intention to offend’
Drag queen Chantaaaal. (YouTube/Britain’s Got Talent)
The drag queen who covered Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” from the film Titanic on Britain’s Got Talent has spoken to PinkNews about the complaints she received following her BGT appearance.
On 25 May, drag queen Chantaaaal put on an unforgettable performance on Britain’s Got Talent which saw her dressed like the front of the doomed liner as she mimed along to the film’s most famous song, “My Heart Will Go On”.
But following the performance the UK’s TV watchdog, Ofcom, was hit with 78 complaints. The majority of complaints claimed that her performance made fun of the 1912 disaster, in which more than 1,500 people died.
In response to the complaints Chantaaaal told PinkNews: “I created this number out of love for the movie that deeply touched me as a kid, and out of love for Céline Dion’s song, which is to me, and many others, a pop culture masterpiece.
“At no point did I create this act to make a mockery or a joke about the tragedy. It absolutely wasn’t my intention to offend anyone and to whom who felt so, I apologise.”
Alongside complaints posted on social media, some stood behind Chantaaaal’s act, with one person taking to X/Twitter to write that she was clearly “laughing at the ridiculous film, not the tragedy”.
The lighthearted act is one of many LGBTQ+ themed performances to have been reported to Ofcom in recent months.
In March, Ofcom received more than 350 complaints from viewers about Hollyoaks’ trans youth storyline. A couple of years before the watchdog dismissed more than 1,600 complaints about comedian Jordan Gray’s nude performance on Channel 4’s Friday Night Live.
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