BBC News shared a breakup story about ‘Hugh Grant spotted in a bakery’ – and scoffed online Bedford News

The BBC has come under fire for a “sensational” report that put social media users in arms.

Well, “sensational” in a purely ironic sense.

On April 18, the BBC News website ran an article with the headline “Hugh Grant spotted in Frome Bakery”.

The company couldn’t have known the story would gain such attention online, but not necessarily for the right reasons.

“Huge if it’s true” was the response of many sarcastic commentators, while others wondered why they kept paying their license fees.

“I actually clicked on it to see what happened in the bakery,” one user said.

Indeed, the article was truly an article about Somerset and how the South West County has attracted a plethora of famous residents over the years.

But it was the angle of the story centered around watching the A-lister at a Frome bakery that caught readers’ attention for being a non-story.

Actor Hugh Grant has been spotted taking advantage of the lockdown making it easier to shop in Somerset, ”the BBC’s hard-hitting coverage began.

“The Love Actually frontman was seen in Frome on Tuesday and was recognized by the staff at Parsons Bakery in Badcox.”

Those dying to know what products the actor bought weren’t disappointed – Grant reportedly bought “a bacon roll, a coffee, and a slice of custard.”

The employee who served the star said he was a “very polite and well-spoken gentleman,” according to the BBC.

“It’s a short story?” was the confused outcry from many on Twitter, while others noted Grant’s past thorny relationship with the media in the past.

Others noted the recent BBC coverage of The Duke of Edinburgh, which saw the company receive 110,000 complaints about its coverage of Philip’s death after clearing his schedules and mirroring coverage on BBC One, BBC Two and the news channel.

“What happened to the BBC?” “I prefer the endless coverage of the royal funeral over this garbage,” said another.

“The media don’t like him because he has denounced them for harassment in the past,” one user said. “So what’s their response to that?” Harass him at every opportunity.

In 2018, Grant settled a claim for damages for phone hacking against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) in the High Court, which involved the payment of a six-figure sum, which he gave to the Hacked Off campaign group. .

At the time, Grant’s attorney said that as part of the “settlement” MGN admitted that a number of senior officials “actively tolerated, encouraged or ignored the widespread culture of illegal activities of news gathering ”in its national newspapers.

She also said the company “actively seeks to conceal its wrongdoing from its many trespassers” and admits that intrusions into people’s lives could have been avoided.

Earlier this year, Grant was nominated for a Golden Globe, earning a nod in the Best Performance in a Miniseries or TV Movie category for his work on HBO, The Undoing.

According to The Sun, Grant bought a six-bedroom semi-detached house in London’s Chelsea at the end of 2018.

The £ 17.5million property sits on one of the area’s most exclusive streets.

A version of this article originally appeared on our sister title, NationalWorld