BBC cuts Doherty footage

Pete Doherty: filmed cutting himself with a bottle
11 April 2012
The Weekender

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The BBC has dropped graphic footage of singer Pete Doherty self-harming from a documentary after mental health charities raised fears that teenagers could imitate him, it emerged today.

The images of Kate Moss's on-off boyfriend cutting himself with a broken bottle featured in a rough edit of BBC3 fly-on-the-wall show Who the F*** is Pete Doherty?

The pictures were leaked to the media last week, and were used to illustrate stories about the self-confessed heroin addict's increasingly erratic behaviour.

However, the BBC has acted to remove the footage from the documentary - due to air on August 28 - after the Samaritans warned that it could encourage young people to follow the 26-year-old former Libertines frontman's example.

In a statement released yesterday, the help group said: "There's a lot of evidence which shows that broadcast portrayals of self-harm can cause imitative behaviour.

"In particular, teenagers can be influenced by programmes which feature celebrities or people they can relate to.

"Young people who are going through a difficult time could see the footage and perceive self-harm as an appropriate way to cope with problems."

A spokeswoman for the BBC said today that they and the production company, Big Picture Limited, had decided against airing the images.

"We won't be showing the moment where Pete cuts himself. The programme is still being edited and the BBC has decided not to show that part."

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