Graham Norton fans angered by Kevin Spacey joke and Johnny Depp appearance

Alexandra Richards5 November 2017
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Graham Norton fans were left angered after he joked about sexual harassment allegations against Kevin Spacey in the opening monologue to his show.

During the monologue, Mr Norton referenced the House of Cards star when he said: “It has been a week of sleaze, hasn’t it? A week of sleaze. There have been so many allegations, people’s careers are collapsing like a house of… dominoes.”

He went on to say: “Journalists are struggling to come up with enough words to describe the inappropriate behaviour. Touchy-feely, handsy, sleazy, Spacey.”

Mr Norton went on to welcome cast members from the new film, Murder On The Orient Express, including Michelle Pheiffer, Dame Judi Dench, Kenneth Branagh, Josh Gad and Johnny Depp.

Fans weren't impressed that Mr Depp was invited on the show
So TV

Some fans were also uncomfortable with the fact that Depp had been invited onto the show after his former wife Amber Heard accused him of domestic violence. Depp has always denied all allegations of abuse.

Depp and Heard later released a joint statement after reaching a settlement in which they acknowledged their relationship was "volatile".

It said: "Neither party has made false accusations for financial gain. There was never any intent of physical or emotional harm."

One woman wrote: “So there’s an alleged domestic abuse perpetrator on Graham Norton's sofa tonight. Not inappropriate at all… #ViolenceAgainstWomen”.

Mark Latham tweeted: "Uncomfortable Graham Norton show tonight. Opens with Kevin Spacey put-downs, introduces Johnny Depp to huge applause. No hint of irony."

But another viewer replied: "What irony? Johnny Depp has been proven innocent already."

Another said: "So the Graham Norton show starts with him making 'cheeky' jokes about the harassment story then one of the guests is... Johnny Depp."

The Standard has contacted the BBC for comment.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in