BBC ditch EMMA awards coverage

The BBC has dropped plans to broadcast the Emma multicultural media awards after a storm of controversy engulfed this year’s event at which David Beckham, Greg Dyke, Tom Cruise and Vanessa Feltz were given honours.

The BBC made the decision to drop the broadcast just weeks after a leading black newspaper and some pressure groups claimed the awards had more to do with getting mainstream publicity for the event than rewarding people who might not otherwise be recognised. Emma’s founder, Bobby Syed, accused his detractors of “racist comments” and reported at least one black newspaper to the Commission for Racial Equality. “We have always given awards to white people,” said Mr Syed. “The Emmas are not about promoting one ethnic group or culture, they are about embracing all our cultures. If you don’t like a person that’s fine, but don’t criticise someone on the basis of the colour of their skin.”

A BBC spokesman confirmed the corporation was ending its four-year association with the awards but said it had nothing to do with this year’s event. The former director of television, Mark Thompson, brought the Emma awards to BBC2 in 2000, shortly after the then director general, Greg Dyke, said he thought the corporation was “hideously white”. The BBC produced the show for the next three years until Mr Syed made a decision to produce the show independently this year. The decision by the BBC to drop the show could jeopardise the awards – sponsor NatWest said it was not certain to back next year’s event.