British news presenter Emily Maitlis was reprimanded live by her co-host after swearing during her coverage of the US election.
Maitlis, who is best known for her interview with Prince Andrew, hosted Channel 4’s all-night election coverage, UK time, alongside Krishnan Guru-Murthy.
In the middle of the broadcast, she asked one of the studio guests about Trump’s immigration policy when she said: “When Donald Trump talked about eating cats and dogs, half of America just thought: this is nonsense, I can’t believe not what he says, this will be the end of him’ – “
Before she finished her question, Guru-Murthy intervened and said, “Stop cursing! I had to scold them for swearing and then you do it,” he continued, referring to the changing line of guests throughout the night.
Maitlis, who spent almost two decades at the BBC before heading up her own podcast, was unapologetic, replying: “I don’t know what else, how else would you describe it.”
Later, Guru-Murthy again referred to Maitlis’ swearing while she briefly went off air, reportedly to record an episode of her podcast, saying: “I’ll tell Emily later because I know she started swearing . In Britain it may be the middle of the night, but they are still a bit sensitive when it comes to things like that.”
In Great Britain there are strict rules on the use of swear words during broadcasts. Media regulator Ofcom, which classifies the word ‘shit’ as a moderately offensive word, has the power to investigate and even sanction networks where the broadcasting code is ignored.
Earlier this year, the regulator ruled that a radio station had breached the British Broadcasting Code by playing an excerpt from Jason Derulo’s ‘Savage Love’, which contained the word ‘fucks’.
Variety has contacted Channel 4 for comment.