The comments were made live from outside the Houses of Parliament
Channel 4 has apologised for comments Jon Snow made on Friday’s edition of Channel 4 News.
Broadcasting live from outside the House of Parliament, Snow said that he had “never seen so many white people in one place” in reference to a pro-Brexit protest taking place.
“It’s been the most extraordinary day,” said Jon Snow in unscripted comments at the end of the broadcast. “A day which has seen … I have never seen so many white people in one place, it’s an extraordinary story. There are people everywhere, there are crowds everywhere.”
‘I’ve never seen so many white people…’ @jonsnowC4 has the best banter 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/wutrVN08uT
— Tez (@tezilyas) March 30, 2019
Friday, March 29th was the original scheduled date for the UK to live the European Union, but that deadline has since been extended.
Channel 4 News released a statement following criticism of the comments online.
“This was an unscripted observation at the very end of a long week of fast-moving Brexit developments,” said the statement.
“Jon has covered major events such as this over a long career and this was a spontaneous comment reflecting his observation that in a London demonstration of that size, ethnic minorities seemed to be significantly under-represented. We regret any offence caused by his comment.”
Television regulator Ofcom said that they would not know how many complaints were made until Monday.
“We will assess any complaints we do receive before deciding whether or not to investigate,” said a spokesman.
