Alan Partridge’s Ukrainian joke on ‘Comic Relief’ gets angry viewer reaction

18 March, 2024

Alan Partridge Red Nose Day 2024

Alan Partridge has been criticised by viewers for a joke made about Ukrainian refugees.

The Steve Coogan character was part of a Comic Relief sketch on Friday (March 15), where he and Sidekick Simon (Tim Key) read out callers’ most and least charitable things done.

Revealing one, Simon declared: “Grant in Briston says his most charitable act was taking in a family of Ukrainians for a year.”

Partridge then asked: “And the least charitable?”, before Simon replied: “Turfing them out, he’s got rid.”

“Marvellous, well actually a friend of mine did that for a family of Ukrainians,” Partridge added. “Still friends with them, they still wash his cars.”

The sketch has since received criticism on social media amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, one viewer writing on X (formerly Twitter): “WHAT was that Ukraine joke on the Alan Partridge sketch…? Come on BBC.”

“Alan Partridge sketch was awful,” another added. “Especially the stupid comments about #Ukraine refugees. Not impressed.”

A third said: “On the day when 20 Ukrainians killed in a missile attack in Odesa, jokes about Ukrainian refugees not really that funny.”

“I’ve never ‘got’ Alan Partridge but this is particularly unfunny tonight…,” another said.

Last week’s Comic Relief saw comedian Sir Lenny Henry take part in his final Red Nose Day, where he performed a parody of Barbie hit ‘I’m Just Ken’ called ‘I’m Just Len’.

Henry co-founded the charity with Richard Curtis in 1985, and previously explained that he would be stepping back as it was “time to hand on to the new generation”.

“There’s all these new, wonderful comedians with podcasts and nine million followers, and those guys or women should be hosting Comic Relief now so that the young people and the new influx of viewers can plug into the next stage of Comic Relief, because there will be a next stage, and because we want to continue tackling issues of poverty and injustice,” he added. “It’s time to hand over the reins, as it were.”

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