U.K. Broadcaster Prompts Uproar for Airing The Emoji Movie During Queen Elizabeth II's Funeral

While the world mourned the loss of Queen Elizabeth II Monday, the U.K.'s Channel 5 caught flack for airing The Emoji Movie in place of funeral coverage.

ITV, BBC One, and BBC Two showed the funeral live while Channel 4 broadcast a documentary about the late Queen. Channel 5, however, had other plans. The network aired The Emoji Movie, the 2017 animated film with a 6% Rotten Tomatoes score.

Twitter users took to their accounts to express their shock, horror, and amusement with this move, calling out the broadcaster for the bizarre choice. "Big day for Channel 5," one user wrote, while another called the incident "the funniest bit of our generation". 

Big day for Channel 5 pic.twitter.com/b41gNvi7H3

— Dave Brain 🧠 (@Ornsack) September 16, 2022

No sign of Prince Louis, he’s probably at the palace watching the Emoji Movie on Channel 5.

— Aaron (@captain_az) September 19, 2022

Channel 5 broadcasting the Emoji Movie instead of the royal funeral is the funniest bit of our generation

— an ancient man (@goulcher) September 19, 2022

as her majesty is laid to rest, the nation pauses with upmost sorrow to pay respect by watching the emoji movie on channel 5 pic.twitter.com/hMWsAmpwO6

— Lucia Keskin (@chiwithaC) September 19, 2022

Channel 5 pausing for a 2 minute silence during the Emoji Movie is quite possibly the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.

— Paul (@PablotheNPC) September 19, 2022

cant believe we are finally here, it’s going to be such a tough watch. Good luck everyone getting through The Emoji Movie on channel 5 this morning.

— dave ❄️ 🥕 🧻 (@davemacladd) September 19, 2022

Really don’t understand the criticism of Channel 5 for showing The Emoji Movie, Stuart Little etc during the queen’s funeral.

What are kids of families who don’t have paid TV/streaming supposed to do otherwise, sit and watch white people in suits look overly sad for 6 hours?

— Tom (@tdnightingale) September 18, 2022

While other channels continue to broadcast coverage of Queen Elizabeth's funeral today, Channel 5 is set to air children's programming like Stuart Little Ice Age 3, and Sing! following The Emoji Movie's conclusion.

Jade Budowski is a freelance writer with a knack for ruining punchlines and harboring dad-aged celebrity crushes. She was previously a reporter/producer at Decider and is a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow her on Twitter: @jadebudowski.