Brendan O’Carroll has been hit with a fresh race row after the Mrs Brown’s Boys star was forced to apologise for a “clumsy” joke in the Christmas special of the BBC comedy
Mrs Brown’s Boys has been caught up in another race scandal two years after the BBC creator’s comments about Tyler Perry sparking outrage.
Brendan O’Carroll, star and creator of the controversial comedy, left viewers of The One Show stunned back in 2022 when the Agnes Brown actor appeared to make a racially insensitive remark about American filmmaker Perry’s skin colour during a live interview.
The historic comments have resurfaced in the wake of O’Carroll apologising over a “clumsy” joke where a “racial term was implied” during rehearsals for the upcoming Christmas special of the BBC comedy. The BBC temporarily paused rehearsals to investigate the incident, which have since resumed in Glasgow at the broadcaster’s Pacific Quay studios in Scotland – with shows going ahead as planned, as first reported by the Mirror.
“At a read-through of the Mrs Brown’s Boys Christmas specials, there was a clumsy attempt at a joke, in the character of Agnes, where a racial term was implied,” O’Carroll told the Mirror in a statement issued on Monday night. “It backfired and caused offence which I deeply regret and for which I have apologised.” A BBC spokesperson added: “Whilst we don’t comment on individuals, the BBC is against all forms of racism, and we have robust processes in place should issues ever arise.”
This isn’t the first time O’Carroll has been accused of racism. The Irish comic, 69, faced backlash from viewers who tuned into The One Show in February 2022 , with some branding one of his comments towards his fellow guest, US actor and filmmaker Perry, as “incredibly racist”.
During a video interview with the Don’t Look Up star, O’Carroll was quizzed by hosts Lauren Laverne and Harry Judd on the possibility of Perry featuring in his hit comedy series Mrs Brown’s Boys. In response, O’Carroll touched his face and remarked: “So far we haven’t had anyone of his colour in there so I don’t know if we could have him in.”
He continued, expressing his openness to the idea: “But you know what, I’d love that, but I think more importantly I’d love to do another movie with him.” Perry appeared taken aback by the comment, echoing it with a laugh, saying, “Nobody my colour,” while Brendan gestured to his skin again. He then chimed in with: “Time to change the world. Diversity rules, here we go.”
Viewers at home were left gobsmacked by the interaction and quickly voiced their opinions on Twitter (X). “Brendan O’Carroll just made a racist remark on the one show and not one person called him out. Shame on you BBC #TheOneShow,” one penned minutes after the segment aired in 2022.
Another expressed disbelief, tweeting: “Did Brendan O’Carroll just say Tyler a Perry couldn’t be in Mrs Brown’s Boys because he’s black on The One Show!?!” A third noted: “Brendan O’Carroll’s attempt at being funny towards @tylerperry on BBC One Show tonight was quite embarrassing, I’m sure no malice was meant but that comment was wrong on so many levels.”
Perry later slammed the idea that O’Carroll was a racist, telling Ireland’s Sunday World newspaper: “I think it is a very scary place if everybody wants censorship if they say something that somebody else doesn’t agree with, or if they use a word that somebody else finds offensive. So I think it should be on a case-by-case basis to understand what intention is there. If you talk about comedy and comics and the things that make us laugh, when you try to start to censor you are going to do a great disservice to what comedy is.”
O’Carroll and Perry’s chat on The One Show two years ago followed their collaboration in the Netflix comedy A Madea Homecoming. O’Carroll made a guest appearance as his character Agnes Brown in the 12th episode of the long-standing film series written and directed by Perry.
