BBC Under Fire After Actor Andrew Scott Abandons ‘Offensive’ BAFTA Red Carpet Interview

BBC News entertainment correspondent Colin Paterson is under fire for a viral red carpet interview at the BAFTA Awards on Sunday night that left actor Andrew Scott clearly uncomfortable to the point he abandoned the conversation.

The interview, which quickly went viral, saw Paterson pressing Scott for his thoughts on fellow Irish actor Barry Keoghan’s nude dance scene in Saltburn.

Scott, awkwardly attempting to avoid the conversation said he didn’t want to discuss the scene to keep the conversation spoiler-free.

“I won’t spoil it for anyone. It’s great, it’s great,” he said.

Laughing and despite the actor’s clear discomfort, Paterson leaned in: “Spoil Away.”

He added: “There is a lot of talk about prosthetics, how well do you know him?”

Scott, unhappy, looked disgusted and walked away.

The line of questioning, now viewed over 2 million times on social media platform X, was widely criticised by users and industry professionals.

Actor Craig Parkinson, known for his role in Line of Duty, slammed the BBC reporter for falling into “lazy and possibly offensive journalistic pit falls.”

Similarly, former BBC entertainment commissioner Sohail Shah expressed his discomfort with the interview, suggesting it was time for Paterson to “hang up his microphone.”

The actor, however, was not the only celebrity quizzed about Keoghan. Singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor, whose song features during the naked dance scene in Saltburn, was also met with questions about the infamous scene.

Scott was at the awards for his role in All Of Us Strangers, a film that did not secure a win despite six nominations. The Dublin-born actor shared the stage with Irish co-star Paul Mescal to present the award for Best Animated Feature.