Bale-istic ... Christian Bale
BUNGLING BBC bosses had viewers choking on their cornflakes this morning – when they aired Christian Bale’s infamous rant, complete with expletives.
BBC Breakfast viewers watched in disbelief as the recording of the actor was played just before 6.55am - without the swear words bleeped out.
Many young children will have been watching as they were getting ready for school when the gaffe was made.
Shock
It happened after presenter Charlie Stayt warned that viewers may want to cover their ears, unaware of what was about to happen.
As they switched to a photo of Bale, the alleged tape recording of him going mad on a film set started up with the 35-year-old actor ranting “You don’t f****** understand”.
Stony-faced ... the hosts
After about five seconds the sound was faded out and the picture switched back to the studio, showing Stayt and co-host Susanna Reed with frozen faces.
The shocked pair quickly apologised, saying the wrong version had been played before going to local studios around the country for a news round-up.
When they returned no mention was made of the mistake and it appeared as if the feature on the Batman star had been dropped completely.
The tape at the centre of the story is believed to have been recorded on the set of Terminator Salvation and features 30 uses of the F-word in just four minutes.
Director of photography, Shane Hurlbut, is understood to be the subject of Bale’s wrath and is accused by the actor in the tape of “walking around in the background” of a scene.
Sachsgate scandal ... Jonathan Ross
The blunder comes months after Sachsgate – when Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand left offensive messages on Andrew Sachs’s answerphone about his granddaughter on a Radio 2 show.
Mediawatch head John Beyer said he was astonished the BBC had made this latest mistake, given recent scandals over its content.
He said: “In view of all the controversy about the language on television this is extremely careless.
“I am glad they very quickly apologised and that was the right thing to do.
“But I think it is extremely careless that it even happened in the first place - it is very unfortunate indeed.”
A spokesman for telly watchdog Ofcom confirmed it had received complaints about the gaffe, but was unable to say how many.
A Beeb spokesman admitted it had already received 54 complaints about the tape.
The corporation issued a grovelling apology to viewers and said no further investigation into the matter would take place.
He said: “A technical error led to us broadcasting an unacceptable swear word on Breakfast this morning - we apologised on air immediately afterwards.
“Another apology was given at the end of the programme.
“We also pulled a later repeat of the item. We are sorry for any offence caused.