Ant and Dec delete latest announcement and issue apology following serious backlash
Warning: This article contains references to suicide which some readers may find distressing.
Ant and Dec have been forced to delete a post promoting their latest venture after receiving extreme backlash online.
Yesterday, the presenting duo announced they would be starting their own podcast, Hanging Out with Ant & Dec, as part of their Belta Box brand.
The promotional imagery for the podcast included the presenters suspended from a washing line, in line with the 'hanging out' name, pegged onto the line by their shoulders, an image which doesn't appear to be controversial.
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The post, which was posted on X, read: “Our brand-new podcast Hanging Out with Ant & Dec is launching Thursday 22 January!”
However, a promotional video featuring the imagery has been slammed online for appearing to show a pair of legs dangling in mid-air in the opening seconds.
While the video does immediately establish that it's Ant and Dec dangling from a washing line and nothing else, it was met with fierce backlash online as several people believed the image could be misinterpreted as suicide and therefore triggering to people.
"That Ant and Dec podcast promo ad is (accidentally I suspect) about as misguided as you can get. Did absolutely nobody check what the still image looked like before they pressed send," replied one shocked user on X.
Describing it as being in 'poor taste', a second wrote: "Ant and Dec already have a huge following, why ruin their own reputation to promote a podcast," while a third added: "Sick that lads. Fire your marketing team."
Former X Factor contestant Katie Waissel also called the pair out, saying the promo was 'genuinely sickening and deeply disappointing'.
"This opening visual of feet suspended above the ground is not a harmless 'play on words', it immediately reads as someone hanging, and the suicide imagery is impossible to ignore," she wrote in a lengthy response.
"Whoever signed this off as a marketing concept either didn’t think for a second about the real-world impact, or simply didn’t care.
"With a platform as large as yours, there is a clear duty to act responsibly.
"This is entirely foreseeable harm. It’s triggering, insensitive, and frankly reckless to push out as 'entertainment' when so many families have been devastated by suicide and self-harm."
The post has since been taken down from the pair's social media accounts, while a spokesperson for the pair gave the following statement to LADbible: "We did not mean to cause any offence with this promo video, and we are sorry if it has upset anyone. We have taken on board the comments and have deleted the video."
Meanwhile, other users have since rushed to the pair's defence, arguing that any suicidal imagery was likely not intended.
"I know Ant and Dec wouldn’t purposely mock the issue mercilessly," wrote one person in response to Waissel's post. "They started Britain Get Talking, a charity funded to help those struggling with mental health."
And a second commentator said: "Nothing wrong with it."
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123 or contact Harmless by visiting their website https://harmless.org.uk.
Topics: Ant McPartlin, Ant and Dec, Declan Donnelly, Podcast, Entertainment
Brenna Cooper