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Alesha Dixon’s Black Lives Matter necklace on BGT sparks complaints

Some 1,675 complaints have been made about last weekend’s Britain’s Got Talent episode, which saw judge Alesha Dixon wear a Black Lives Matter necklace.

Broadcasting watchdog Ofcom said the majority of the complaints related to Dixon’s three-tier necklace, which featured the letters B, L and M in gold.

An Ofcom spokeswoman said: “We are assessing these complaints against our broadcasting rules, but are yet to decide whether or not to investigate.”

Following Saturday night’s pre-recorded show, Dixon shared a video on Instagram showing the necklace in full as she applied make-up.

It comes after Diversity’s dance routine on the ITV show, inspired by the anti-racism movement, sparked more than 24,500 complaints to Ofcom as of last week.

The routine saw a dancer playing a white police officer kneel on Ashley Banjo, echoing the killing of unarmed black man George Floyd in US, while other dancers performed with police riot shields.

Watch: Ashley Banjo responds to the haters of Diversity's BLM performance

As Banjo lay on the floor while the police officer handcuffed him, other dancers crowded around with smartphones as if to film and take photos of the incident.

It also saw the dance troupe take a knee, in protest against racism and police brutality.

Last week, ITV praised the “authentic, heartfelt” performance.

Ofcom has said it will not investigate the routine despite the large number of complaints, saying it did not “consider” the performance to be racist.

It is close to becoming the most complained-about TV moment of the decade – some 25,327 were made in 2018 about Celebrity Big Brother when ex-Emmerdale actress Roxanne Pallett alleged she had been assaulted by fellow housemate Ryan Thomas.

Watch: Viewers flood to Ofcom to complain about Gogglebox