OTTAWA – An episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians containing sexually suggestive content should have contained viewer advisories, but was ok to air before 9:00 PM, The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) ruled Thursday.
Keeping Up with the Kardashians is a reality show that follows the lives of members of the Kardashian and Jenner families, mainly mother Kris and her three adult daughters, Kourtney, Khloé and Kim. In an episode entitled ‘We’re Having a Baby’, which aired on the specialty service E! on October 23, 2013 at 4:00 PM, one of the plotlines involved Kourtney’s boyfriend Scott trying to convince her to have anal sex with him. There were numerous discussions about the topic, mostly referring to the act as “back-dooring it”. In one scene, Kourtney used a donut and carrot, while Scott used a cucumber and candy gummy ring, to demonstrate the act. In another, Kourtney chased Scott around the house while wearing a purple strap-on dildo, but the sex toy itself was blurred.
A viewer complained that this type of sexual content was inappropriate for broadcast during the day. The station responded that the subject of anal sex was addressed through euphemisms, but it did acknowledge that it should have broadcast viewer advisories.
The CBSC’s National Specialty Services Panel examined the complaint under the scheduling and viewer advisories provisions of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ Code of Ethics. The Panel concluded that the sexual references were not explicit so E! could broadcast the show during the day. The references were, however, sufficiently sexually suggestive that the broadcast required viewer advisories.
