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Sienna Miller: criticism for not wearing poppy 'a little extreme'

This article is more than 8 years old

Actor says she removed remembrance poppy before going on the Graham Norton Show as it was tearing her dress

Sienna Miller has said criticism she received for not wearing a poppy in a recent TV interview was “a little extreme” – adding she was worried about an upcoming pre-recorded programme in which she would likely be seen without one again.

The actor was condemned for not wearing the flower on the Graham Norton Show. She said she “meant no disrespect” but added “you can’t please everyone”.

Speaking about her appearance on the BBC1 chatshow, Miller told ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Friday: “I had a poppy on, funnily enough, and I was wearing a dress that was like crepe paper, basically, and as I was going on I looked down – it was tearing at the dress and they’d said my name ... so I whipped it off.”

She added: “It’s really snowballed apparently and of course I don’t think there is anyone in this country that isn’t grateful and respectful and never would want to cause offence and wear a poppy all the time, but people kind of focus on things enough to pick at the negative. It seems a little extreme.

“Also, there’s another show I’m worried about coming up because we pre-recorded it, where we’re probably not wearing poppies but some of these things are filmed weeks before they air. But you can’t please everyone and I meant no disrespect. Of course I didn’t.”

Annually, there is controversy surrounding the wearing of Remembrance Day poppies, with high-profile names speaking out about why they choose not to wear one.

The ITV News anchor Charlene White wrote a blogpost about her decision not to wear a poppy on screen last year. In the post, to which she tweeted a link again this year, White wrote: “I support and am patron of a number of charities, and due to impartiality rules, I am not allowed to visually support them all whilst presenting news programmes.

“That includes things like a red ribbon for World Aids Day, or a purple band for Bowel Cancer Awareness Month. Both these and many more charities do great things in the UK, but I’m not allowed to give them exposure on screen.

“So I feel uncomfortable supporting just one charity above all others, namely The Royal British Legion, but I fully support my colleagues who do choose to wear the poppy on screen.”

She said she wears one on Armistice Day, and added that her father served in the RAF and her uncle served in the army. The Channel 4 newsreader Jon Snow has said in the past that there is an “unpleasant breed of poppy fascism out there”.

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