The presenter decided to repost a joke by comedian Blank Peng about being “racist” towards “white people”

Adil Ray has risked causing controversy yet again with his social media posts after returning to Instagram weeks after his Sharia law claims.

Mr Ray was reportedly hauled in front of ITV bosses back in November after sharing a series of posts on X appearing to endorse Sharia law following rumours that newly elected New York Mayor, Zohran Mamdani, may implement the system.

The presenter clarified that at the time he wasn’t “actually suggesting Mamdani would implement Sharia law” before adding that “many of the issues he campaigned for are also some of the positive values of Sharia that Muslims try to live by. Something many of us would agree on”.

Mr Ray took a break from social media in the aftermath of his post, with his X account now disabled. But he has returned to BlueSky and Instagram, the latter of which he shared the latest contentious post.

Adil Ray is a familiar face on ITV | PAThe clip in question is of comic Blank Peng on Channel 4’s The Last Leg, a comedy show hosted by comedian Adam Hills.

The bilingual comedian jokes in the footage: “At first in the UK, it’s really hard for me to make friends here because of the racism.

“Yeah, because I hate white people,” she adds, prompting laughter from the Channel 4 show’s audience.

Ms Peng wrote in the accompanying caption of the post: “Racism in UK is fabulous. Big thx to @thelastlegofficial @openmike.tv to let me warm up last week’s wonderful episode.” (sic)

Adil Ray shared a clip of comedian Blank Peng joking she “hated white people

The post itself caused a fierce debate on social media prior to Mr Ray’s reposting on New Year’s Day.

Initially shared by Ms Peng on December 12, the clip has garnered plenty of backlash, with one complaint reading: “Ah yes you hate them so much you came here to be amongst them.”

Others argued the joke wouldn’t be passable on primetime television if it were aimed at another ethnic group other than white Brits.

Ms Peng was defended at the time, however, with one supporter hitting back: “White people in the comments not getting that it’s a joke.”

In the clip reposted by Adil Ray, the comedian joked she struggled with “racism” due to her hatred for “white people”

GB News has contacted Mr Ray’s representatives and ITV for comment on the social media post.

It isn’t just on social media that Mr Ray has found himself hitting headlines of late. During a recent appearance on Good Morning Britain, his comments towards a World War II veteran were deemed by many to be “disgraceful”.

Ahead of the latest Remembrance Day, Mr Ray and Kate Garraway welcomed former Navy serviceman Alec Penstone onto the show to discuss his memories of the war and why he continues to sell poppies for the Royal British Legion at 100 years of age.

Mr Penstone was just 15 when he volunteered to help move the dead and injured during the Blitz, and just two years later, at 17, he joined the Navy, where he went on to serve in the Arctic convoys.

ITV GMB: Adil Ray regularly fronts the ITV breakfast show | ITVTowards the end of the conversation, after Mr Penstone had spent time reminiscing, Ms Garraway asked him: “What does Remembrance Sunday mean for you? What is your message?”

Mr Penstone candidly replied: “My message is, I can see in my mind’s eye the rows and rows of white stones of all the hundreds of my friends and everybody else that gave their lives for what?

“The country of today. No, I’m sorry, the sacrifice wasn’t worth the result that it is now.”

Ms Garraway offered a sympathetic response to Mr Penstone as she attempted to move on, but Mr Ray interjected for the first time during the discussion and asked him to expand on his point.

“What do you mean by that, though?” the GMB host probed, prompting the WWII veteran to reply: “What we fought for, and what we fought for was our freedom. We find that even now it’s downright worse than when I fought for it.”

Mr Ray was accused of “desperately fishing” to get the WWII veteran to say something that could be deemed as “racist” by viewers.