Badenoch says boy Adolescence lead character based on was ‘not white’

Kemi Badenoch has said Adolescence is based on a true story that has been “fundamentally changed” and that the real-life perpetrator was not white, a theory already rejected by one of the drama’s makers.

Co-creator Jack Thorne recently dismissed an online theory that the series changed the race of the lead character and stressed it was not based on a real case.

The drama about a teenage boy who is accused of killing a girl from his school examines so-called incel (involuntary celibate) culture and has prompted a national conversation about online safety.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hosted a roundtable at Downing Street with Thorne and children’s charities on Monday to talk about young boys being influenced by misogyny they encounter online.

What I understand is that this is a fictional representation of a story that is actually quite different

Tory leader Mrs Badenoch said she had not watched the series.

“I don’t have time to watch anything to be honest, but I have read about it … what I understand is that this is a fictional representation of a story that is actually quite different,” she told LBC.

She said it “certainly touches on some of the things that are happening in the world today” but is not the biggest thing happening when it comes to people being radicalised on social media.

“There are bigger problems, such as Islamic terrorism and that kind of radicalisation, and the story which it is based on has been fundamentally changed, and so creating policy on a work of fiction rather than on reality is the real issue.”

She was later asked on GB News if she thinks white boys are being wrongly singled out.

“Adolescence is a fictional story. It’s based on a real story, but my understanding is that the boy who committed that crime was not white,” she said.

She said Sir Keir having meetings sparked by the reaction to the programme was a “gimmick”, after Labour had said the same about the Tories’ proposed mobile phone ban in schools.

“It’s a gimmick. He thinks that he’s going to touch the people of this country. ‘They’re all watching Netflix, so I’ll just talk about the thing they’re watching on TV’.”

Some have said the call for a ban on pupils using phones is unnecessary as many schools already do not allow children to use mobiles.

A post on social media amplified by Elon Musk has suggested the story, which features a white actor, is based on the Southport attacker.

Co-creator Thorne recently rejected the accusations of “race-swapping” in the series.

It is not based on a true story and is “making a point about masculinity”, and not race, Thorne told the News Agents podcast.

“It’s absurd to say that (knife crime) is only committed by black boys. It’s absurd. It’s not true. And history shows a lot of cases of kids from all races committing these crimes,” he said.