BBC issues apology over Paul Mescal mistake in Oscars coverage

The BBC has apologised after a nationality mix-up where Irish actor Paul Mescal was incorrectly referred to as "British," in their Oscars coverage.

The 26-year-old actor from Maynooth, Kildare secured his first Academy Award nomination for "Best Actor" in Aftersun.

Mescal was nominated alongside British actor Bill Nighy for his performance in Living, and news of their achievement appeared on BBC News.

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But viewers quickly noticed that Mescal was incorrectly referred to as a "British actor," as the on-screen text read: "2023 Oscar nominations: British actors Paul Mescal and Bill Nighy are nominated for leading role."

The BBC has since apologised for the error on, after backlash from viewers:

"In text running across the screen, we reported that Paul Mescal was one of two British actors who had been nominated for an Oscar for a leading role," they said on their corrections and clarifications page.

"The text should have said that Paul Mescal is Irish. We apologise for the mistake."

Mescal who rose to fame with his role as Connell Waldron in Normal People has previously been mistakenly identified as British, and led to the actor to declare his nationality on Twitter.

"I'm Irish," he simply tweeted, not calling out specific publications and this gained over 124,000 likes.

It's been good year for the Emerald Isle at the Oscars as fellow Irish actors Colin Farrell, Kerry Condon, Barry Keoghan and Brendan Gleeson have been nominated for their roles in The Banshees Of Inisherin.

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