Grime rapper and Jeremy Corbyn fan Stormzy is set to read a passage from the Bible at the end of one of BBC One’s Christmas Day programmes.
Stormzy, real name Michael Ebenazer Kwadjo Omari Owuo Jr., credits God and his Christian faith for his commercial success, and is set to read a passage from the Gospel of Luke which describes an angel of the Lord appearing to the shepherds to herald the birth of Jesus Christ.
Hugh Faupel, the executive producer at BBC Studios, said in comments reported by The Guardian that he was “delighted” that Stormzy will be delivering the reading and that his team “look for people to bring the Christmas story alive”.
The choice of Stormzy, who attends the Word of Grace Ministries church in Kennington, south London, is controversial given that he sung “fuck the government, fuck Boris” while headlining at Glastonbury festival in June while wearing a stab vest emblazoned with the Union flag.
In good humour, then-leadership candidate Boris Johnson claimed that he heard the grime artist sing “Back Boris”.
Mr Johnson said at the time: “I want to pay tribute to Stormzy – I am a great enthusiast and admirer of Mr Stormzy’s works and I think he’s one of the great lyricists and poets of our time.
“And I want to thank him for his rousing endorsement of the Back Boris campaign.
“Back Boris I think was what he said and there may have been some problem with the acoustics that caused him to be briefly misunderstood, but Stormzy seems to me to be thoroughly on message,” he teased.
Before the December election, Stormzy called Mr Johnson a “fucking prick” and told his 2.7 million Instagram followers to vote for the far-left Labour Party.
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The rapper clashed with Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan over his comments about the prime minister, this time for telling little children that Mr Johnson was “a very, very bad man” and comparing him to the “big, bad wolf”.
Omari had been visiting his former primary school in Thornton Heath, south London, and made the remarks when he was asked why he did not like the Tory leader.
Mr Morgan said in an exchange with the rapper on Twitter: “Come off it, Stormzy — saying stuff like that to a bunch of very young school kids isn’t cool, and you know it.
“You’re a hugely influential role model now to so many youngsters, wield that power more carefully.”
Stormzy is not the only woke personality to have been included in the BBC’s Christmas lineup. Last month, BBC Radio 4 revealed that climate wunderkind Greta Thunberg will be guest editing a Christmas edition of its flagship current affairs programme, Today.
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