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Published 11:00 12 Jan 2017 GMT
Updated 12:03 12 Jan 2017 GMT
Mick Carter made the comment
This term has a derogatory connotation and was previously used to describe people of Italian nationality, emerging in Britain during in World War 2 when the Italians joined forces with Germany.
Understandably, this comment has annoyed viewers and as is common practice with this type of incident, people took to Twitter to air their views.
People kicking off over the word 'Eyetie' being used for an Italian in eastenders
— josh aspinall (@joshaspinall96) January 11, 2017
@BBCOne @bbceastenders I can't believe that you have used the word ITIE to describe an Italian evening! Surly this is totally out of order?
— maria pompeo (@bellamaria1968) January 11, 2017
Erm...#eastenders....isn't Eyetie a bit of a....slur?
— Sooz Kempner (@SoozUK) January 10, 2017
Maybe it's just me, but I thought 'Eyetie' was a fairly taboo term these days?! #Eastenders
— Matt Van-Der-Vord (@MatthewV_ENG) January 10, 2017
@bbceastenders Are you kidding me?This day & age we are still referring Italians as I Ti!!!???Disgusting racist comment from Eastenders!!!
— Anna Maria (@AnnaGiannini661) January 10, 2017
Addressing the controversial remark, a spokesperson for the BBC gave the following comment in conversation with The Mirror:@bbceastenders "eyetie" Really? It's 2017 sort it out.
— Lee (@LeeODell84) January 10, 2017
"The character is well-known for using slang, or in this case an old-fashioned term that has fallen out of general use, but it was not aimed at anyone and never intended to offend".
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