It seems like Ofcom has been buzzing with complaints against Emmerdale a lot in recent times. The hit ITV soap recently rolled out a storyline that saw teenager April Windsor getting kidnapped by illegal boxing facilitator Jade. The villain had organised an illegal boxing match between Ross and Billy Fletcher. However, things went really off-track when money from the match got stolen.
Jade was under the impression that Ross Barton was the one who stole the money. But that wasn’t true. In reality, Mackenzie Boyd was the one who stole the money, unknown to Jade. Thus, fueled by the misconception, Jade kidnapped young April. Jade her hostage and demanded that Ross return the money he stole from the match, which of course he didn’t.
Thankfully, Mackenzie Boyd realizes his mistake and returns the money to Jade in exchange of April. While, the youngster gets recused from the villain, Emmerdale fans were less than amused. Ofcom has now confirmed that it has received 62 complaints about the storyline. “Complainants objected to a storyline involving child abduction and violence,” A spokesperson from Ofcom told The Sun.
A Plethora Of Complaints
Interestingly, this is not the first time the ITV drama has faced such severe backlash from the viewers. Not too long ago, the soap featured a storyline where abusive Tom King poisoned Belle’s dog, Piper. Although the furbaby survived the ordeal, fans were left fuming. Ofcom had received more than 1000 complaints over Piper’s storyline at the time.
The regulator stressed that the “inclusion or omission of a program” on its list is “not indicative that Ofcom is investigating the broadcast,” and “the number of complaints received is not an indication of how serious an issue is.” After the incident, the soap soap had issued a statement in its defense. They maintained that even though the scenes were distressing to watch, Minni (Piper) was having the time of her life on the sets. “Minnie (AKA Piper) is a very good actor and is always living her best life on set! We can confirm that no harm has come to her whatsoever.”
Stay tuned to Soap Opera Daily for more such news, updates, and Emmerdale Spoilers. Did you also find April and Piper’s storylines distressing? Tell us in the comments.
