SIMPLY Red fans are being warned a new concert film features the band’s frisky frontman Mick Hucknall singing about sex.
Viewers are cautioned they will hear lyrics about “making love and sexual attraction”.
Other trigger warnings on the film, marking the Manchester band’s 40th anniversary, include ones for boozing and mild bad language.
Holding Back the Years — 40 Years of Simply Red, Live in Santiago is released in cinemas today and features hits from a Chile gig in March including Something Got Me Started, If You Don’t Know Me By Now and It’s Only Love Doing Its Thing.
Despite being rated U and suitable for all ages, The British Board of Film Classification warns: “Song lyrics occasionally make brief, undetailed verbal references to ‘making love’ and to sexual attraction.
“People are briefly shown drinking alcohol.” It also warns of “infrequent very mild bad language”, including the word “damn”.
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Toby Young, of the Free Speech Union, blasted: “Does a concert film about a supergroup really need a trigger warning about references to sex and scenes in which alcohol is consumed? You might as well warn viewers that the film may contain rock and roll.”
Simply Red singer Mick, 64, once claimed to have slept with more than 3,000 women in just three years.
In 2010 he told an interviewer that between 1985 and 1987 he had sex with up to three women a day.
He said: “When I had the fame, it went crazy. I never said no. This was what I wanted from being a pop star. I was living the dream and my only regret is that I hurt some really good girls.”
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He later added: “I regret the philandering. I’m truly sorry.”
The BBFC has been slammed for slapping trigger warnings on comedy classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail ahead of its 50th anniversary rerelease this year.
A BBFC spokesperson said: “BBFC age ratings and content advice work to empower audiences to make informed viewing decisions. Holding Back the Years – 40 Years of Simply Red, Live in Santiago is rated U for very mild bad language and sex references.
“Every BBFC age rating decision and every piece of content advice is based on our Classification Guidelines.
“Our Guidelines are the result of extensive consultation with thousands of people across the UK and are refreshed every four to five years to ensure they continue to reflect the expectations of UK audiences.
"Our content advice provides a detailed breakdown of the issues that result in a particular age rating, as well as other issues likely to be of relevance to audiences.
“In 2023, BBFC research found that 85% of parents and caregivers and 71% of teenagers thought content advice is useful for everyone.”