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Paul Mescal receives apology from BBC after broadcaster makes rather awkward blunder-Pierra Willix-Entertainment – Metro
It’s not the first time he’s had this happen.
Irish actor Paul Mescal has been called British…again (Picture: Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images)
His tweet clarifying his nationality may have been the most liked post in Ireland three years ago, but the BBC has had to apologise after getting a crucial fact about Oscar nominee Paul Mescal wrong.
Earlier this week the Irish actor was announced as one of the nominees for the upcoming Academy Awards.
The 26-year-old, who is from Maynooth, was given the nod for his leading role in indie flick Aftersun in the Actor in a Leading Role category.
In March, Paul will be going up against Austin Butler (Elvis), Brendan Fraser (The Whale), Bill Nighy (Living) and fellow Irishman Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin) in the prestigious category.
But when covering the nominations, the national broadcaster made a rather awkward error.
In text appearing on screen, the BBC reported: ‘2023 Oscar nominations: British actors Paul Mescal and Bill Nighy are nominated for leading role.’
The BBC has apologised for this mistake (Picture: eyeswideshut/ Twitter)
It has now apologised for the mistake, issuing a statement that read: ‘In text running across the screen we reported that Paul Mescal was one of two British actors who had been nominated for an Oscar for a leading role.’
‘The text should have said that Paul Mescal is Irish. We apologise for the mistake.’
When the mistake was made, plenty of people pointed it out and reminded the media outlet that Paul is very much Irish.
‘BBC news seems to not know Paul Mescal is IRISH,’ one person wrote.
Another added: ‘The BBC should know that Paul Mescal isn’t British.’
Plenty of people called out the BBC oversight (Picture: Twitter)
This person pointed out that Paul is very much Irish (Picture: Twitter)
Paul was one of several Irish Oscar nominees (Picture: Twitter)
It wasn’t the first time this has happened though.
Back in 2020, when Paul picked up an Emmy nomination for his breakthrough role in Normal People, outlets including The Guardian called him British.
It lead the actor to tweet ‘I’m Irish’, which ended up becoming the most-liked post in his home country that year.
Paul picked up an Oscar nomination for his starring role in Aftersun (Picture: A24 via AP)
The message quickly racked up over 130,000 likes as well as over 12,000 retweets and over 1,600 replies.
His Oscar nomination helped break a record for Ireland too, with the country securing 14 nominations in the upcoming awards ceremony.
Other actors to get nods included Barry Keoghan, Brendan Gleeson and Kerry Condon.
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When his nomination was announced Paul said it was ‘truly a special moment for everyone involved in Aftersun’.
‘To be recognised by the Academy is such an insane honour and I’m so utterly grateful.’
Metro.co.uk has contacted Paul Mescal’s representatives for comment.
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