Passengers on a cross-channel ferry from France to Sussex got an unexpected and shocking surprise when a hardcore pornographic film suddenly began playing on a public lounge television — just moments after a Formula One race broadcast had ended.
According to the New York Post, the bizarre incident occurred aboard a DFDS ferry, a popular service that transports passengers across the English Channel.
A report from the Argus newspaper in Brighton said some of the young passengers who caught sight — or sound — of the X-rated footage “ran screaming,” while stunned parents scrambled to alert the crew.
“Some parents came out and they were asking the man who worked there to sort the TV out,” one anonymous passenger told the Argus. “They were saying, ‘There’s hardcore porn on the TV.’ I couldn’t see it, but it was audible.”
The passenger added that the incident happened as the ferry was turning back toward France due to a port issue, making an already inconvenient journey far more uncomfortable.
A DFDS spokesperson quickly issued an apology, calling the incident “deeply regrettable” and promising that steps have been taken to ensure it never happens again.
“Once the crew were alerted to the content, the channel was swiftly changed,” the company said in a statement to The Independent. “We are very sorry for the understandable upset and anger that this caused. This will not happen again.”
The maritime mishap echoes similar accidental “peep shows” that have occurred in other public settings. In 2019, a Michigan highway billboard displayed pornographic material for about 20 minutes before being shut off.
“It was very bizarre,” recalled driver Chuck McMahon, who witnessed the explicit footage from his car. “I thought maybe it was a billboard for a strip club or something. Then I was like, ‘Huh, oh, wow. That’s porn.”
Police at the time described that incident as “a huge distraction and obviously obscene and inappropriate.”
For DFDS, the ferry fiasco now joins that list — a shocking, unintended “show” at sea that no one on board is likely to forget anytime soon.
