At BAFTA Television Awards at the London Palladium Theatre in London on 20 May 2007, when presenting Ricky Gervais with the award for best comedy performance Joan Rivers made a joke referring to the statuette as a "Jew with a harelip". CLAPA Chief Executive Gareth Davies wrote directly to BAFTA to express his "serious disappointment" at the incident and he said that "many people found the old-fashioned term "harelip" highly offensive and that "making the condition the subject of a cheap joke was simply hurtful"
Rivers said that she was extremely sorry for any offence caused as this had certainly not been her intention. Amanda Berry, BAFTA Chief Executive, stated that the academy would "never set out to offend nor make fun of anyone".