Podcaster dropped from Christmas lights event

A podcaster with over a million subscribers has been dropped from a Christmas lights switch-on event after a city's council reviewed his past "published content".

Jack Dean, known as JaackMaate, was selected to appear at the event outside Norwich City Hall on Thursday, 19 November.

The 33-year-old, who is from the city, said the opportunity was a "bucket list dream", but a fortnight later the invitation has been withdrawn by the city council.

In a statement, the authority apologised and said it had "failed to identify issues from previous published content before announcing him".

In a post on his Facebook, Jack Dean claimed he was pulled from the event because "one person complained to the council about my old 'edgy' online videos from 2014".

"I'll no longer be doing the Christmas lights," he said.

"Gutted. Not because I won't be pressing a button, but because someone out there still thinks the teenager version of me is a reflection of who I am today, as a 33-year-old man.

"Sorry to anyone that was going to come."

A council spokesperson said: "Following the council's announcement to confirm the selection of JaackMaate as the personality to switch on Norwich's festive lights, we have reviewed our decision.

"As a result, the council has decided to make a change to its plans for the Festive Lights Switch-On and JaackMaate will no longer be appearing.

"In reviewing our arrangements, we failed to identify issues from previous published content before announcing him. We apologise for this and will be changing our procedures.

"A further announcement will be made shortly confirming details about the event."

The council has not expanded on which piece of content it had concerns about.

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