While almost every major British TV broadcaster devoted Monday to the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, one channel opted for alternative programming by airing the widely reviled The Emoji Movie, prompting mockery on social media as well as some glee from non-royalists.
Britain’s Channel 5, which is owned by Paramount, aired The Emoji Movie on Monday morning, followed by Stuart Little and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. The late queen’s funeral and the subsequent procession dominated the British airwaves, with BBC One, BBC Two, ITV, and Channel 4 offering blanket coverage of the historic event.
Not so with Channel 5, which chose one of the most detested movies in recent memory to mark the queen’s passing. The Emoji Movie received nearly universal negative reviews when it was released in 2017, and won that year’s Razzie Award for worst picture.
As British schools were closed on Monday in observance of the queen’s funeral, Channel 5 was perhaps intending to offer programming for children stuck at home but who are too young to be interested in the royal family.
Some social media commenters noted that Channel 5 interrupted its broadcast of The Emoji Movie for the two minutes of silence in honor of the late queen.
Social media reaction to Channel 5’s decision to broadcast The Emoji Movie ranged from mockery to befuddlement to glee. More than a few speculated that four-year-old Prince Louis, who was not in attendance at the funeral, was at home enjoying the movie.
Follow David Ng on Twitter @HeyItsDavidNg. Have a tip? Contact me at dng@breitbart.com
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