Graham Norton rapped by BBC bosses for wearing Aids ribbon on his show The controversy was raised by Hamish Marshall, a BBC news and sports reporter in south west - who was sent on a BBC training course which said the comic was 'in the wrong' for wearing the ribbon. He said: "During the Safeguarding Values training, an example of practice, ruled as wrong, on the Graham Norton Show was highlighted. We were told his guests could wear a red ribbon for World Aids Day but he couldn't. Despite the cynics in our group saying this would be flouted, we were told that, like the rest of us, Graham Norton has to obey the rules - however much he disagrees with them. Well, guess what happened last week? Graham Norton wore the red ribbon on his show - a couple of days before World Aids Day. Can you ask the powers-that-be what action has, or is, being taken as a result of this (and) is it only 'talent' on big contracts who can flout rules if they disagree with them? Mark Linsey, the controller of Entertainment Commissioning, said although it was aware World Aids Day was something "Graham cared passionately about" he should not have worn the ribbon. He said: "World Aids Day is an issue which Graham cares passionately about and he did wear a World Aids Day insignia on his programme. However, this is in breach of BBC Guidelines. The production company has been contacted and reminded that he cannot do this and Graham has accepted he was wrong to do so. The BBC has been assured it will not occur again. A BBC source said: "The whole thing is totally disgraceful - Graham is a well known supporter of Aids charities and there is no way in the world he was not going to wear the ribbon. It means so much to him and is very close to his heart and for the BBC to have a go at him is as unbelievable as it is disgusting His guests were all allowed to wear ribbons - even Jeremy Clarkson - so if Graham didn't wear one, can you imagine how he would feel? On November 7 this year, the funnyman and other celebrities raised more £85,000 for the HIV and sexual health charity the Terence Higgins Trust at a 'supper club' event to support people living with HIV. The Graham Norton Show gets nearly 3.2m viewers each week - 22.6 per cent of the audience share.