Music channel MTV was forced to make an on-air apology after showing a video that included lesbian scenes before the 9pm watershed.

The Independent Television Commission (ITC) acted after seven viewers complained over the showing of ‘Smack My Bitch Up’ by The Prodigy on MTV Base during the early evening.

The controversial video includes scenes of drinking, drug-taking, sex and violence shown from the point of view of the person committing the acts. At the end of the video it is revealed that the protagonist is a woman.

‘Smack My Bitch Up’, originally released in 1997, had previously been deemed suitable for transmission in the early hours of the morning. MTV agreed that it should not have been shown earlier and that a mistake had been made.

A spokesman for the ITC said the incident represented such a serious breach of their programme code that the channel should broadcast an on-air apology. Such a move is rare and only used for the most serious breaches of the ITC code.

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