‘Coronation Street’ writers have been accused of racism following Bank Holiday Monday’s episode.
Some viewers took to Twitter when one scene saw character Eva Price describe her hair as resembling ‘Kunta Kinte’.
In the episode, Eva, who is played by Catherine Tyldesley, visits Audrey Robert’s hair salon and tells her: “I have more roots than Kunta Kinte. No idea who that is, by the way, just something my mum used to say.”
Kunta Kinte was a character who featured in the novel ‘Roots’ and was based on one of the author’s young ancestors, who was taken from Gambia and sold as a slave in America.
Aaron Moffat-Jackman, a trainee vicar from Old Trafford, told the Manchester Evening News: “What it did was trivialise a horrific traumatic time for many people.
“Particularly at a time when things are ongoing in America, with many black people getting killed by police, by white people. I think it would be very welcome for ITV to apologise.”
Other offended viewers took to Twitter and Facebook to share their views...
Bosses at the the ITV soap have since apologised to offended viewers, saying: “We apologise if this dialogue has caused offence.”
It has now been confirmed that Ofcom are set to assess whether or not an investigation will be launched after they received almost 300 complaints.
An Ofcom spokesperson told Mirror Online: “Ofcom has received 278 complaints about Coronation Street, which aired on Monday.
“We will assess these complaints before we decide whether to investigate or not.”
We have contacted a ‘Coronation Street’ spokesperson for further comment.