Anger over TV duo's joke
Sep 26 2007 by Paul Loraine, The Journal
GEORDIE television entertainers Ant and Dec came under fire yesterday after they failed to apologise for making a joke at the expense of Northern Rock.
Unite, the union which represents staff at the bank, reacted angrily to a sketch on the duo’s ITV1 show which also prompted a number of calls to The Journal offices from disgruntled viewers.
In the piece, for their Saturday Night Takeaway programme, Dec “quit” the show and demanded a huge pay off. The next clip showed him carrying a cheque towards a branch of Northern Rock before shaking his head and walking away.
Brian Gallagher, of Unite, was angered by the joke. He said: “It was in appallingly bad taste when people’s savings, jobs and livelihoods are at stake.”
In the aftermath of the programme, the ITV website’s forums featured criticism of the joke but yesterday the company moved to justify the piece.
Neither Ant and Dec nor their PR firm Hackford Jones wished to comment but ITV released a statement on behalf of Saturday Night Takeaway. It read: “The sketch was a tongue-in-cheek reflection of the biggest news event of the week. It was never intended to upset or criticise anyone, given the context that the Government had earlier promised to protect Northern Rock savers’ deposits.”
But Mr Gallagher argued that the sketch was insensitive and demanded an apology. He said: “A vast amount of the audience will have something to do with Northern Rock and an apology should be made.
“The fact that they are both from the North-East adds insult to injury.”
Among those to complain to The Journal was a Northern Rock employee who said: “I was dismayed on Saturday night along with many other Northern Rock colleagues to view the negative sketch and would have expected far more from our local heroes. I found myself emailing the show immediately with my concerns and appealing for them both to show their support like many other personalities have been doing and I also highlighted your newspaper’s campaign of support.”
Comment: Page 10
