Comedian and TV presenter Mo Gilligan criticized Miriam Margolyes when he presented an award at the National Television Awards in London last night.
The outspoken actress, 85, used the offensive term to describe the skin color of ITV presenter Andie Peters during an appearance on This Morning last week.
And in response to the comment, Gilligan, 38, introduced himself to the audience, quipping: “If you know me, I’m Moe Gilligan. And if you don’t know me, I’m Andy Peters.”
Gilligan drew gasps and nervous laughter from the audience before announcing that the Factual Entertainment award had gone to Channel 4’s Gogglebox.
The reference to the “racism” scandal sparked a debate on social media, with some calling the joke “ridiculous” and others saying it “lost like hell.”
Last Thursday, ITV bosses were forced to intervene after the actress called 56-year-old Peters a “tall yalla”.
The clip, which was removed from the ITVX taping of the show, has since gone viral with many viewers reaching out to X to express their outrage at Miriam’s comments.
Mo Gilligan criticized Miriam Margolyes as he presented an award at the National Television Awards in London
Outspoken Margolis, 85, used the offensive term to describe the skin color of ITV presenter Andy Peter during an appearance on This Morning last week.
The term, which may also be spelled “tall yellow” or “tall yellow”, is an outdated and offensive slang term used in the United States to describe a light-skinned black person.
After imitating presenter Christina Lampard’s Northern Irish accent for the first time, Miriam turned to Peters and asked: “But what would be a normal accent for you?”
“This is fine. That’s who I am,” Peters replied, and Miriam continued: “Oh, you’re a mixture, aren’t you?” You have a black dad and a white mom.”
“No, no, no. Both my parents are black,” Peters confirmed, before joking: “What did they put on me, I’m a lighter shade than usual?”
Miriam continued, “Both parents, I think you are what I would call a ‘high yalla.’ That’s what they call it in America. Oh, when someone isn’t completely black, right?
“I didn’t even know shadows existed,” Peters said, with Miriam adding, “There are shadows.”
Concerned about the direction of the conversation, producers are believed to have warned Peters through an earpiece, and he then said out loud: “Oh, okay. They’re starting to get nervous now. They’re starting to get nervous now.
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The reference to the “racism” scandal sparked a debate on social media, with some calling the joke “ridiculous” and others saying it “lost like hell.”
“Don’t be nervous,” reassured Miriam, “we welcome everyone.” This is exactly what I want to write about in my book. It’s about inclusion.”
Miriam later responded to the backlash by saying: “I didn’t want to embarrass or hurt Andy because he seems really nice.
“I’ve never met him before; I didn’t know who he was and didn’t know he was black until I saw him. When you see someone, of course you know they are black.
“I wanted to know what he thought about it because it interests me.”
Miriam then used an offensive term for people with disabilities and continued, “How do black people feel?” How do brown people feel? How do cripples feel? How do fat people feel?
– Do you understand what I mean? We all feel something about who we are and how people see us and what they think of us.”
The host intervened to clarify that “in other words, you wanted to discuss his personality with him,” which the actress completely agreed with.
“I’m fascinated by other people,” she continued. “I’m interested in people, not celebrities. This is everyone. What is their story, what made them who they are, why you are who you are.”