Trans comic’s naked piano skit sparks nearly 1,500 Ofcom complaints

A transgender comic’s controversial piano skit which saw her strip naked live on Channel 4 and play the keyboard with her penis has sparked nearly 1,500 complaints to the broadcast watchdog Ofcom.

Edgy and left-leaning C4 has sparked a furious backlash after Jordan Gray’s shocking stunt last Friday night. 

Gray was concluding an expletive-filled song about her experiences as a trans woman during the channel’s revival of Friday Night Live before stripping completely naked before a whooping crowd.

Critics have branded the gimmick ‘disgraceful’ and ‘offensive’, and more than 1,400 viewers have complained to Ofcom.

The dramatic performance was part of the one-off return of the popular 80s standup show, originally called Saturday Live, which Channel 4 aired as part of its 40th birthday celebrations.

Edgy and left-leaning C4 has sparked a furious backlash after Jordan Gray’s shocking stunt last Friday night 

The show included comedians who appeared in the original version of the show, such as Jo Brand and Harry Enfield, as well as new talent like Gray and Rosie Jones, and was hosted by Ben Elton.

Before the performance, Gray, the first transgender singer on talent show The Voice, told her Twitter followers: ‘Tonight we make history.’

‘I haven’t had a Yorkie bar in five years,’ she said at the start of her set, in a refence to the chocolate brand’s former slogan ‘it’s not for girls’.

Gray took to the keyboard in a bright pink suit, telling the audience: ‘This is the coolest night of my life, you’re watching me experience the coolest night of my life.’

She opened the song with the lyric: ‘I look out in the faces in this room, and wish that I could crawl back in the womb. And start again, against God’s plans, with different glands and smaller hands.’

Gray was concluding an expletive-filled song about her experiences as a trans woman during the channel’s revival of Friday Night Live before stripping completely naked before a whooping crowd 

Slamming the performance, feminist author Helen Joyce branded the moment ‘a sex crime committed on camera’

The dark curly-haired comedian added: ‘I wish the world could finally understand: I’m more than just a female Russell Brand.’

She then launched into the comedic song referencing the Chuckle Brothers’ ‘to me to you’ skit before saying ‘now back to me – this song’s about me’.

The song moved into her own version of Do-Re-Mi and increasingly intense keyboard playing.

As the song drew to a close, she told the audience: ‘You know the best thing about live TV? I can do stupid stuff like this!’.

She then jumped up from the piano before counting down ‘one, two, three’ and ripping off her suit and exposing herself entirely.

After dancing around stage the naked comedian returned to the keyboard, shouting ‘see you Friday at the London Palladium b*****s’ and briefly playing a few keys with her penis.

She jumped on top of the piano seat to a huge applause from the audience before leaving the stage.

After the sketch, Elton quipped ‘now that is what I call a kn*b gag’.

The 90-minute show, which aired at 9pm on Friday, also featured appearances from Julian Clary, Stephen Fry, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders.

Slamming the performance, feminist author Helen Joyce branded the moment ‘a sex crime committed on camera’.

Another said: ‘Was so looking forward to watching Friday Night Live, a highlight as a teenager. Always a hit and miss show, but this is the first time I actually felt insulted by an act… as a woman. Vile and misogynistic song spat out at woman.’