Big Brother is facing calls for a boycott after a controversial decision to digitally remove a pro-Palestine symbol from a contestant’s T-shirt.
Forensic psychologist, Ali Bromley, 38, wore the top depicting a map with modern day Israel as a watermelon on Tuesday’s episode (22 October). The watermelon, in the colours of the flag of Palestine, is associated with the pro-Palestine movement after the flag and other items have been subject to bans and restrictions through the years.
After complaints about the garment deemed critical of Israel, ITV made the divisive decision to remove the episode from its streaming platform, ITVX, edit out the T-shirt to remove the symbol and then re-upload the amended show. It comes shortly after a Palestine flag was removed from the crowd during a live show.
A statement by the network provoked further furore after ITV said the garment “could be deemed harmful”. The Campaign Against Antisemitism, which has been critical of the pro-Palestine movement, believes the image was an antisemitic “genocidal message”.
However, Bromley’s supporters believe the shirt is the opposite and is in support of Palestinians who say they are being ethnically cleansed from the land, with more than 42,000 people killed since 7 October.
The show is now facing calls to boycott it, after being slammed for “hypocrisy” after decisions to air controversial views of right-wing politicians including Nigel Farage, appear not to have been subject to the same censorship.
“ITV aired Nathan’s anti-immigrant/pro-Farage views. all of Marcello’s misogynistic/pro-Trump comments and Khaled and Ryan’s ‘anti-woke’ views,” wrote one person.
“Boycott this show,” said one social media user with countless others echoing the message.
“ITV will pay Nigel Farage £1.5 f**king million to be on I’m A Celebrity, but will block out and ultimately delete an entire episode of Big Brother because someone was wearing a T-shirt with a watermelon on it,” wrote another. “If you’re still watching, bigger fool you.”
Inspired by George Orwell’s dystopian novel, 1984, some called out the digital erasing of what they perceive as “anti-genocide imagery” as too “on the nose”, with the pro-Palestine message having come to be associated with left-wing, anti-authoritarian, and progressive movements.
The show initially made a comeback to screens for a reboot in 2023, having previously been cancelled by Channel 4 in 2010 and Channel 5 in 2018. Pro-Palestine boycotts have been successful in impacting the sales of corporations including McDonalds and Starbucks.
A major reality TV show fan site also hit out at the decision to remove the symbol.
“The values and beliefs of Big Brother state that it is a REALITY TV show cited as ‘the original social experiment’ filled with people from ‘all walks of life’,” said SuperTV247.
“YOU put a part-Palestinian housemate in there, and now you are EDITING the show to censor pro-Palestinian content. This goes against rules of impartiality and unfair editing.
“You are allowing the censorship of a housemate’s views, views which don’t actually break any broadcasting regulations, something that goes against the ethos of the show - and goes against the actual existence of one of your housemates.
“What are the underlined ‘implications’ of this watermelon in your statement? Can you please address the 10,000+ complaints against the removal of this t-shirt?”
An ITV spokesperson told The Independent: “We regret that the implications of this particular item of clothing were not fully understood in our bag checks or prior to the broadcast of last night’s show.”
ITV apologised to viewers “offended by the broadcast” and said “Big Brother was unaware of the implications of the image. The item of clothing has been removed from the House.”
They continued: “The Housemate has been spoken to and they have expressed that they are unaware of the implications and did not wish to cause any harm or offence.
“Any offensive messaging associated with the image does not reflect the values or beliefs of Big Brother.”
The forensic psychologist’s T-shirt has been reported to be a “Freedom Melon Tee” from Wear The Peace, which donates all of its proceeds to the charity Pious Projects of America, who use the funds to supply medical aid, food, water and other necessities to people in Gaza.
