Love Island presenter Laura Whitmore has been defended by ITV bosses after come under fire from viewers who alleged she 'sl*t shamed' contestant Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu on Sunday night's Aftersun.
Sunday evening was a controversial one all round for the ITV2 dating show, with the fall out from the second part of Mad Movies, with Luca Bish and Dami Hope the main focus of viewers' grievances. Ofcom hinted that complaints flooded in rapidly, with the communications regulator taking to Twitter to post: "Lots of you have been in touch to complain about this weekend's Love Island episodes. These will all be carefully assessed against our broadcasting code."
It has since been reported that Sunday's Love Island was the focus of 2,481 complaints related to alleged misogynistic behaviour by some of the male contestants. And it has since been revealed that Ofcom also received 427 complaints about Aftersun, with the majority concerned with host Laura's comments about Ekin-Su.
Some viewers watching at home weren't happy with the line of questioning but my Laura in regards to what Ekin-Su got up to with new boy George in Casa Amor. Reacting a clip that was shown during Movie Night, Laura remarked: "Once again Ekin-Su swore that nothing happened with George and it seems Davide doesn’t believe her."
She then laughed before studio guest, Remind Me singer Tom Grennan replied: "It deffo happened though, didn’t it." Another of Laura's guests, comedian Darren Harriott then quipped: "She said her head never turned but I think her hand might have turned, and possibly wrist."
Critics promptly flocked to Twitter to condemn Laura for entertaining such comments, with a number of tweets accusing her of 'sl*t shaming." Far from impressed, one viewer blasted: "This has become a he-says-she-says situation. And it doesn’t change the fact that Laura Whitmore chose to encourage slut shaming of Ekin-Su on Aftersun which is Ofcom complaint worthy."
A second tweeted: " @LoveIsland how does @thewhitmore get to engage in character defamation of Ekin-Su but it's all #bekind when it comes to her???" Calling for Laura to go, another reacted: "The fact that she laughed and lied about Ekin Su performing sexual favours on national TV in 2022 is a disgrace."
However, ITV have hit out at the online comments made about Laura, in a statement to Metro which read: "Laura is the presenter of the show, and part of that role is to pose questions to the panel and discuss events in the villa.
"‘We do not condone trolling against either our host or our Islanders and any subsequent elevation of these comments."
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