Spurs acknowledge apology but criticise radio station over incident; "It cannot be acceptable that antisemitism does not receive the same level of condemnation as other forms of discrimination and efforts to tackle it should be no less rigorous."
Wednesday 4 August 2021 17:26, UK
Tottenham have acknowledged an apology from TalkSport after antisemitic remarks about the club's chairman Daniel Levy were broadcast live on the radio station's YouTube channel.
A guest caller made the comments about Levy - regarding Spurs forward Harry Kane's future at the club - during Tuesday evening's Sports Bar programme, during which hosts Jordan Jarrett-Bryan and Perry Groves failed to address the remarks.
A TalkSport statement on Wednesday said that the presenters did not address the comments because they were 'dumped', meaning they were not broadcast on the radio.
However, a feed of the show on YouTube continued to air uninterrupted, with the clip later picked up and shared on social media.
Head of TalkSport Lee Clayton said: "We are all appalled by the comment that was made by a caller during a live YouTube broadcast of The Sports Bar. There is absolutely no room for discrimination of any kind in society.
"We are deeply sorry to Tottenham and, especially, to chairman Daniel Levy, as well as their supporters and the Jewish community for the offence caused by this hateful comment, which should never have been broadcast.
"The comment was rightly dumped on our radio station, where we broadcast with a slight delay to ensure any unexpected and inappropriate comments don't make it to air. It was, however, streamed live on the TalkSport YouTube channel, which we are currently testing and which awaits a similar profanity/offence delay. Our team did not take our YouTube stream into consideration and therefore the comments were not challenged as they should have been for our viewers on YouTube.
"It is unacceptable that the comment appeared anywhere and as broadcast partners of the Premier League, we take our position very seriously. We are comprehensively reviewing all of our processes, involving our teams across programming, social media and compliance.
"We have suspended live broadcasting on YouTube until we can be sure we have the same processes and protections in place as we have for our radio broadcasting."
Tottenham issued a response acknowledging TalkSport's apology, but the club said it was "appalled" by the incident.
"The club notes TalkSport's apology following an antisemitic incident on their The Sports Bar programme on Tuesday 3 August.
"We were appalled that neither presenter addressed the comment, failing to call out the antisemitic trope. We are under no doubt that if an equivalent comment had been made regarding an individual's race or other protected characteristic, the response would have been immediate and far-reaching.
"It cannot be acceptable that antisemitism does not receive the same level of condemnation as other forms of discrimination and efforts to tackle it should be no less rigorous."
The All-Party Parliamentary Group Against Antisemitism had earlier written to Clayton about the incident, while also confirming that it had submitted a complaint to Ofcom.
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