BBC rejects complaints over Baga Chipz’s Falklands sex joke on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK
Baga Chipz as Margaret Thatcher on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK (YouTube/It’s Just Drag)
The BBC has rejected complaints over an “inappropriate Falklands reference” made by Baga Chipz while dressed as Margaret Thatcher on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK.
Two viewers complained to the broadcaster after Baga Chipz, wearing devilish red contact lenses and a shocking wig, was asked to suggest a Spice Girl name for judge Michelle Visage.
“Belgrano Spice,” she said. “Like the ship, she likes to go down.”
The joke was in reference to the General Belgrano, an Argentine cruiser that was torpedoed by a British Royal Navy submarine with Thatcher’s approval in May 1982, killing 323 Argentine sailors.
Continuing the dark humour, Baga Chipz then added: “We must bugger the miners! More money for the rich, and less for the poor, thank you, thank you!”
The BBC’s executive complaints unit began an investigation after the October 2019 episode, but the unit rejected the complaints.
A spokesman told The Times that the BBC Three programme is known for “tackling adult themes” and that the audience would have understood that the comment was a joke.
“RuPaul’s Drag Race UK is an award-winning show which has a long and well-established tradition of tackling adult themes and this comment was made during a segment of the show focusing on parody, where the audience would have understood that the comment was not intended to be taken seriously,” the spokesperson said.
“This is why the [complaints unit] found that it was not in breach of standards.”
BBC insiders also admitted to The Times that the show’s iPlayer-only status allowed it to “get away” with humour that would be considered too offensive for broadcast television.
A version of the same joke was previously used in Max and Paddy’s Road to Nowhere in 2004, which featured two girls known as the Belgrano sisters “because so many sailors have gone down on them,” and most likely predates that.
