Channel Nine apologises over antisemitic comment
CHANNEL Nine has apologised after former AFL star Mal Brown made an antisemitic comment on-air on Sunday morning.
CHANNEL Nine has apologised after former AFL star Mal Brown made an antisemitic comment on-air on Sunday morning.
Brown was appearing on Nine’s The Sunday Footy Show when he spoke about his former teammate, Kevin Bartlett.
Of Bartlett, Brown said: “He was very Jewish, he never bought a drink in his life.”
Apologising for the remark, a spokeswoman for Nine said, “The comments made today were in poor taste and we don’t condone those stereotypes.
“We apologise for any offence it may have caused.”
Brown, however, has stood by his comment, telling the Herald Sun: “I am absolutely not apologising for that.”
Anti-Defamation Commission chairman Dvir Abramovich welcomed the “swift apology” by the broadcaster, but called on Brown to “do the right thing and withdraw his thoughtless and hurtful slur”.
“While we value the role of humour, sports figures, who are often role models, need to be mindful of not peddling offensive and demeaning stereotypes, especially those that are rooted in classic antisemitism,” Abramovich said.
“Putting down any religious group by suggesting that they are stingy and cheap is simply unacceptable and never funny.”
He added, “We do hope Mal Brown understands the pain that he caused and refrains from using similar rhetoric in the future.”
AJN STAFF
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