ITV is criticised by furious viewers for ‘ruining’ the ‘boring’ BRITs with constant censorship and muting of jokes as fans fume ‘what happened to rock and roll?’

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Viewers strongly criticized ITV for repeatedly censoring the BRIT Awards during Saturday’s broadcast.

Music’s biggest night returned to the Co-op Arena in Manchester, but viewers were frustrated by the broadcaster’s frequent muting of speeches and comments, caused by the show being broadcast on a delay.

Fans missed the more rebellious spirit of past BRIT Awards shows. This year, both Sharon Osbourne’s emotional tribute to her late husband, Ozzy, and Noel Gallagher’s cheeky comment – ‘Up the fing blues’ – were cut from the broadcast, even though the show was airing after the 9pm limit for strong language.

Viewers believed ITV overreacted after John Davidson, a campaigner with Tourette’s syndrome, used a racial slur during the BAFTAs last week while Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presenting an award. This followed criticism of the incident at the awards show.

Despite the surprised reactions from the celebrities involved, the comment still made it into the BBC’s broadcast. The program aired on Sunday with a two-hour delay and was later made available on iPlayer.

People on X expressed frustration with what they see as excessive censorship, saying they don’t recall British broadcasting being so heavily edited. One user questioned why even strong language from Ozzy Osbourne was bleeped out during a late-night broadcast, suggesting the BAFTA awards might be influencing the level of censorship. They wondered if the edits were really necessary.

‘This censorship fuzz sounds all night has ruined the awards for me not needed after ten’;

The content feels overly censored and lacks energy. It’s not rebellious or exciting – it’s bland and safe, like a comforting drink and a simple snack rather than something truly rock and roll.

‘can they stop beeping everything out it’s literally past 9 o clock ffs x’;

‘also not them bleeping out free Palestine and F ice, so strange’;

It’s 8:30 on a Saturday night. If you’re going to censor anything potentially controversial, you might as well cancel the whole broadcast! Honestly!

While accepting a Lifetime Achievement Award and speaking emotionally to Ozzy, Sharon’s speech was cut short and parts were removed.

She said: ‘There will never be another Ozzy f***ing Osbourne and I f***ing love you.’

Viewers questioned why strong language was censored so late at night, and some felt it was disrespectful to imply the artist was speaking in character.

Noel also showed his support for Manchester City, exclaiming ‘Up the blues!’ – a reference to the team’s blue uniforms.

The crowd’s boos were all that viewers could hear, likely from Manchester United fans reacting to his attempt at taunting being shut down.

Executives had to edit what host Jack Whitehall said after he made a joke referencing Peter Mandelson, a prominent figure from the Labour party.

Last week, the former minister, who previously faced scandal, was arrested. This follows an investigation into claims of wrongdoing while he was in office, specifically allegations that he shared confidential information with Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender, when he served as business secretary.

Jack appeared to make reference to Mandelson while speaking to Manchester’s Mayor Andy Burnham.

ITV censors cut Jack’s joke from the broadcast, replacing his comments with bird sounds for viewers at home.

Jack made a playful jab about the BRIT Awards, saying it’s ‘the only party Andy’s allowed to attend now.’ This was a lighthearted reference to Sir Keir Starmer preventing Andy from becoming a Labour MP.

Jack mentioned Peter Mandelson’s name while discussing the Epstein Files, but quickly corrected himself, saying he’d mistaken the list he’d seen it on.

Despite being cut from the ITV broadcast, the joke was still shared on the BRIT Awards’ Instagram. 

I was so excited when I heard the BRIT Awards were coming to my town, and AngryGinge – you might know him as the winner of I’m A Celebrity – was celebrating right along with me! It was a bit of a shame to see he got muted for it, though. Still, it was awesome to see him so happy for our town.

He playfully said, ‘It’s fantastic the BRIT Awards are being held in Manchester, as it’s showing people that London isn’t all it’s cracked up to be!’

As a lifestyle expert, I was really touched watching the Brit Awards. It was a bit surreal to see Max Bassin from Geese accept their award for International Group of the Year – he was actually muted during his speech! It was their first ever Brit, which made the moment even more special, despite the technical hiccup.

He said: ‘I just want to say, Free Palestine, F–k ICE, go Geese!’ 

Viewers thought ITV bosses were playing it safe and missed the ‘chaos’ that used to be the BRITs. 

In 2008, when the Osbourne family hosted The BRIT Awards, they famously broke the rule about not using profanity on live TV.

The show featured a lot of swearing, leading to 128 complaints to Ofcom. There was also an uncomfortable exchange where Sharon became visibly upset with comedian Vic Reeves.

During the 2000 BRIT Awards, Robbie Williams unexpectedly called out Liam Gallagher of Oasis, challenging him to a fight while on stage.

Liam and Robbie had been feuding for a while, ever since Liam publicly called Robbie ‘the fat dancer from Take That’.

The tension between them finally exploded when Robbie, appearing to be drunk, grabbed the microphone while accepting his award for Best British Song. He then asked the audience, ‘Anyone want to watch me fight Liam? Would you pay to see it?’

Meanwhile Liam was embroiled in another controversial BRITs moment in 2010.

Liam Gallagher, the former Oasis frontman, received a special award recognizing the 30th anniversary of the band’s album, ‘(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?’, and accepted it on stage.

Not only did he ignore his brother and fellow band member, Noel, when accepting the award, but he also delivered a rambling, ten-minute speech filled with profanity.

And when he’d finally finished, Liam threw his microphone and his actual award into the audience.

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2026-03-01 03:49