Ofcom receives 567 complaints following Capital Radio DJ Ant Payne’s ‘insensitive and ill-timed’ joke about quake-hit Turkey when he told listeners ‘now’s the best time to look for cheap flights’ to the country
- DJ Ant Payne made the ‘insensitive’ comments on Capital Radio on Monday
- Read more: Under-fire DJ Ant Payne ‘WON’T be sacked’ from Capital FM
Ofcom received 567 complaints about an ‘insensitive and ill-timed’ joke made by Capital Radio DJ Ant Payne about earthquake-hit Turkey.
The presenter, who hosts the 4pm to 7pm slot on the station, said while on-air on Monday that ‘now is actually the best time’ to start looking for ‘cheap flights’ to the country.
He also joked that listeners could ‘get your teeth done while you are over there’ and ‘come back looking 19 years old’, adding: ‘You will be on Love Island next year if you are doing that.’
The broadcasting watchdog said the complaints had been about ‘the presenter’s reference to Turkey’.
Two earthquakes of magnitude 7.8 and 7.5 struck nine hours apart in south-eastern Turkey and Syria on February 6.
Radio presenter Ant Payne has issued an apology after saying that now was the ‘best time’ to start looking for cheap flights to Turkey and ‘get your teeth done’
The death toll recently passed 35,000 as rescuers continued to work to reach people trapped under the rubble.
Payne apologised on Tuesday after facing criticism on social media, with Liberal Democrat councillor Suzanne Nuri-Nixon urging him to ‘read the room’.
He tweeted: ‘Hi guys, I want to address the comment I made last night on the show.
‘It was insensitive and ill timed. I would never wish to offend anyone from my shows. My sincere and wholehearted apologies.’
Sources claim that Capital FM bosses read Payne the riot act but stopped short of sacking him, with one telling The Sun: ‘Ant is keeping his job but Global made it crystal clear the comments were far from acceptable’.
Payne was previously a presenter on Galaxy FM before joining Capital Radio in January 2011.
Twitter users blasted the presenter for making the comments, with some saying they were ‘in shock’ and ‘disgusted’.
Payne came under fire from Twitter users for the ‘insensitive’ joke, with some calling for him to be sacked
Another user said: ‘Cant believe I just heard [Ant Payne] make fun of the #Turkeyearthquake on @CapitalOffical – he said ”flight from now for a few years should be cheap to Turkey to get your teeth done”.
‘I wonder how all the Turkish [and] Syrian communities and victims of this disaster feel about that?’
Payne responded to the tweet directly by saying: ‘Except I said nothing of the sort…’
But the outrage continued, with Liberal Democrat councillor Suzanne Nuri-Nixon urging him to ‘read the room’.
Zalihe Alp said: ‘We are burying our dead but #antpayne thinks it’s a good time for cheap flights to Turkey to get teeth done. Generations are lost. Whole streets flattened for blocks. Towns gone. Lives are traumatised. But let’s get our teeth done.’
Rescuers were focusing their efforts on three provinces hit hard by the devastating quakes that hit Turkey and Syria last week
More than 41,500 buildings were destroyed or so damaged that they would have to be demolished, the Minister of Environment and Urbanisation said
Ex-Met Police Detective Sergeant, Sukie Madahar, tweeted: ‘@CapitalOfficial …one truly sick individual to deal with in the morning. All those lives lost, 1000s injured and countless left with nothing.
‘Then you allow this idiot to use your platform to talk utter s***e…shocking and disgusting.’
Ofcom also received 106 complaints about the Brit Awards broadcast on ITV1 on Saturday, with the majority related to Sam Smith’s performance of the hit song Unholy.
The singer, who is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, was among the live performers at the event at London’s O2 Arena and took to the stage in black bondage gear and a top hat with devil horns.
The performance, featuring collaborator Kim Petras, ended with a close-up shot of a long kiss between two backing dancers.
The remainder of the complaints about the Brits were about the use of offensive language and consumption of alcohol.
Capital Radio’s parent company Global has been contacted for comment.
Source: Read Full Article