Dannii 'homophobic' jibe cleared (From Bury Times)

Dannii 'homophobic' jibe cleared

12:32pm Monday 23rd November 2009

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The X Factor episode which received complaints that Dannii Minogue had made a "homophobic" jibe about contestant Danyl Johnson has been cleared by the broadcasting watchdog.

The show, broadcast last month, saw Danyl give a performance of And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going, which was originally composed as a female lead vocal for the musical Dreamgirls.

In her critique, judge Dannii said the singer had given a "true X Factor performance" but added: "If we're to believe everything we read in the papers, maybe you didn't need to change the gender reference in it?"

Fellow judge Simon Cowell said Dannii was playing "games" and she later apologised to anyone who may have been offended saying of her comments: "They were only said with humour."

The regulator Ofcom said it received nearly 4,000 complaints, the majority of which were concerned that Dannii's remarks were malicious and homophobic and based on newspaper reports about Danyl's sexuality.

Danyl said in a statement that he was not offended by Dannii's comment, saying they chatted afterwards.

The regulator found: "In Ofcom's view, it was not outside the established nature of the programme for an X Factor judge to make such a comment as Dannii Minogue's especially in circumstances where the performer had placed information about his sexuality in the public domain ...

"Ofcom did not discern a pejorative or homophobic intent behind her comment."

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