Report: Station Apologizes for JOHNNY ROTTEN Rant

February 4, 2004

The television station ITV apologized Wednesday after former SEX PISTOLS singer John Lydon let fly with a string of expletives on a live reality TV program, according to the Associated Press.

Lydon, formerly known as Johnny Rotten, made the foul-mouthed rant on the Australian set of "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!" — a hugely popular program that is being beamed back to about 10 million viewers in Britain nightly.

Lydon's comments, made when he was told that the public had voted to keep him in the "Big Brother"-style show, prompted almost 100 complaints to ITV and Britain's media watchdog Ofcom.

"It was a live broadcast, so it was unpreventable. But we apologize for any offense caused," ITV said. "... It's no excuse, but there is a warning which goes out before the program saying there might be bad language."

An ITV spokeswoman said the company will consider putting a time delay on the live sections of the show to allow any swearing to be bleeped out.

Ofcom said it was still considering whether to take action.

"I'm a Celebrity", strands C-list celebs in the Australian rainforest, subjects them to a series of unpalatable trials involving spiders and snakes, and allows the public to vote them off the show one by one.

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