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"Speaking about Britain's Got Talent singer Susan Boyle in October, he said :"She would not be where she is today if it wasn't for the fact that she looked like such a ******* mong." mong is a slang term used to refer to people with Down's Syndrome. It is derived from the word "mongrel." He went on: "When she first came on the telly, I went: 'Is that a mong?' "I don't mean she has Down's Syndrome, by the way. No, no! That would be offensive. That word doesn't mean that any more." Channel 4 claimed that using the word was justified in the context of late-night humour. It said the comment was not "directed at Susan Boyle as having a disability but at those who refuse to acknowledge that meanings of words can adapt over time". The company said it needed to experiment and defended the entertainer's right to freedom of expression. Ofcom said in its ruling that Gervais was exploring the interpretations and meanings of certain provocative words. He was examining the changes in their associations over time, with a focus on his assertion that the word "mong" had lost its derogatory association with Down's Syndrome. The regulator said: "This involved Ricky Gervais evoking the word's offensiveness to some extent, and challenging the relationship between the offence and the word itself. "We considered, therefore, that the nature and focus of the routine provided a clear editorial context for his use of the term." "