Entertainment
Idris Elba speaks out amid Luther controversy as BBC boss says detective ‘lacks authenticity’
Idris Elba appeared to have a lot on his mind last night as he shared a cryptic message on social media amid the controversy surrounding his BBC series Luther.
BBC’s creative diversity chief Miranda Wayland sparked a debate after saying that the character DCI John Luther lacks ‘authenticity’ due to his lack of Black friends and the fact he ‘doesn’t eat Caribbean food’.
As the backlash unfolded, Idris, 48, shared a quote in his Instagram story without directly addressing the controversy.
‘We must not pull ourselves backwards, only push ourselves forwards. IE,’ he wrote attributing the quote to himself.
Wayland shared her thoughts on the diversity in Luther, which has starred Idris as the haunted detective since 2010.
Speaking on a panel at this year’s MIPTV conference, Wayland said as quoted by The Times: ‘When it first came out everybody loved the fact that Idris Elba was in there — a really strong, Black character lead.
‘We all fell in love with him. Who didn’t, right? But after you got into about the second series, you got kind of like, OK, he doesn’t have any Black friends, he doesn’t eat any Caribbean food, this doesn’t feel authentic.’
The BBC later released a statement about Wayland’s comments, with a spokesperson telling Metro.co.uk: ‘Luther is a multi-award winning crime drama series and the iconic role of DCI John Luther has become one of TV’s most powerful detective characters of which we are tremendously proud.
‘The BBC is committed to its continued investment in diversity and recent BBC One dramas I May Destroy You and Small Axe are testament to that.’
They added: ‘Of course people can have open discussions about our shows but that doesn’t mean it’s a statement of policy.’
Luther, the character, is known for being a loner who spends most of his time cracking heinous murders and enjoying twisted dalliances with his love interest Alice Morgan (Ruth Wilson).
In terms of diversity, the most recent series five saw Luther partner up with DS Catherine Halliday, played by Wunmi Mosaku, to solve the latest murders, while Nikki Amuka-Bird starred in earlier episodes.
However, there have been few other central characters played by Black actors with the fictional police force predominantly white.
Elsewhere in Idris’ world, the actor has once again addressed the rumours he’ll be the next James Bond and admits his mother is convinced he’ll replace Daniel Craig.
Luther series 1-5 are available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
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