Probe into Calendar TV broadcast of ‘n-word’ lyrics
COMMUNICATIONS watchdog Ofcom confirmed yesterday it was investigating how Yorkshire TV’s Calendar programme came to broadcast the original racially offensive lyrics of The Sun Has Got His Hat On, in a report on the weather on May 22.
As written by Noel Gay and Ralph Butler, and recorded in 1932, the song includes the second verse couplet: “He’s been tanning n*****s, out in Timbuktu/Now he’s coming back to do the same to you.”
A rewritten version was a hit in 1971.
A Calendar spokeswoman said the broadcast was a mistake for which the station had already apologised on air.