Video of Steven Bartlett rapping about the 'potato famine' surfaces following advert ban

An old clip of Dragons' Den star Steven Bartlett performing in a rap battle has resurfaced and is making the rounds on social media.

This comes after The Diary of a CEO podcast host's online adverts for nutrition brands Huel and Zoe were banned by the Advertising Standards Agency as they failed to disclose his involvement in the two businesses.

The old clip was brought to light by journalist Chris Byrne, who posted a blog about the rap battle where Bartlett competed under the rapper name "Lyricist."

A X/Twitter user later then posted the video a few months later, with user Nick Stylianou writing: "They also failed to disclose Steven Bartlett used to compete as a battle rapper called 'Lyricist'."

Within the brief 10-second clip, Bartlett can be heard dissing his Irish opponent, Rawsoul, who was a member of the Dublin rap collective Class A’z.

“You’re Ireland’s only last hope when it comes to rapping, and considering the fact you’re such a blatant cabbage / Ireland are going to lose another precious vegetable like the potato famine," he rapped.

Since then, social media users have been reacting to Bartlett's rapping skills that he has kept under wraps.

One person joked: "Dropping potato knowledge like his dad Albert Bartlett."

"I am flabbergasted," another person said.

Someone else replied: "Does he really rhyme 'rapping' with 'cabbage' and then 'famine'?"

"Didn't see this on his LinkedIn," a fourth person commented.

According to another user, Bartlett (or should we say Lyricist) was "never big but he did have at least a few battles."

Meanwhile, the Advertising Standards Agency issued a statement over banning Bartlett's recent ads.

"We considered that Bartlett's directorship was material to consumers' understanding of the ads, and so relevant for them in making an informed decision about the advertised product," it said.

The reason for the Huel ruling was "Because the ads omitted material information about Steven Bartlett's position as a director at Huel, we concluded they were likely to mislead."

While for the Zoe ad, the ban was due to fact that "the ad omitted material information about Steven Bartlett being an investor in Zoe, we concluded that it was misleading."

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