BBC under fire for Moyles' Polish prostitute joke
LONDON - Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles has sparked an outcry from the Polish community after joking that Poles make good prostitutes, giving the BBC another radio presenter headache.
The self-proclaimed "saviour of Radio 1" said during a live broadcast: "I've always found in my experience prostitutes make very good cleaners, and their ironing is brilliant.
"I just find if you're Polish you're just very good at ironing ... and prostitutes ...very good also at fixing cars, so hopefully that's not going to give me a problem in the car department."
The BBC has received 32 complaints about the show, which was broadcast on November 19.
The total is likely to rise after wide coverage of a petition launched by Poles calling for the broadcaster to apologise over what they claim were racist comments.
The scandal comes just a week after the BBC apologised for actor John Barrowman exposing himself live on air on Radio 1 and a month after Sachsgate.
Jan Mokrzycki, president of the Federation of Poles in Great Britain, said: "This is another man making stupid remarks not knowing what he is talking about. I would be very happy if the BBC asked him to apologise.
"People are organising a petition about those comments and we would support them in it."
The BBC has defended Moyles, who is paid £650,000 a year, insisting that he did not mean to cause offence.
A spokesman for the broadcaster said: "Chris was poking fun at ridiculous and unfair stereotypes, and making a nonsense of generalisations based on nationality.
"At no point did he say that Polish people were involved in prostitution -- he separately joked that prostitutes were good at fixing cars and ironing."
Comments
Eric Roth - 04/12/2008
Really now. If Mr. M has never chuckled about an Irish, Turk, American or say African joke please continue to eat your plate of smug. I think cultural insensitivity is really a product not being able to roll with the punches. When I was a kid Poles always got to be called ski and it took the entire south side to change bulb. Today the services industry seems to be an upgrade.