RTE apologises after New Year s Eve sketch received over 600 complaints
The segment was broadcast on the New Year s Eve special and showed God being led away by Gardai
RTE Sketch which appeared as part of the NYE programming which accuses God of rape and shows him being led away by a Garda Officer.
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State broadcaster RTE has issued an apology over a sketch that ran as part of the station’s NYE Countdown Show.
The broadcaster said it acknowledged that viewers were offended by the clip, which received 600 complaints and faced criticism from Archbishop Eamon Martin, who said it was “deeply offensive and blasphemous”.
The programme, broadcast on RTE One on New Year’s Eve, featured a sketch by satirical group Waterford Whispers News.
In it, a mocked-up news report featuring former RTE news presenter Aengus Mac Grianna claimed that God had been arrested over “sexual harassment scandals”.
1. I am shocked that producer/editor of NYE Countdown Show @RTE@RTEOne didnât realise how deeply offensive was a mocking news report accusing God of rape & reporting his imprisonment. This outrageous clip should be removed immediately & denounced by all people of goodwill. Eamon Martin (@ArchbishopEamon) January 1, 2021
From Kiss to Hogmanay drones: The best virtual New Year s Eve events to say good riddance to 2020 independent.ie - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from independent.ie Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
If ever there was a year we were eager to see vanish in the rear-view mirror, it’s 2020. Yet ringing in 2021 will obviously be more complicated than is traditional. Going out and having fun is essentially a public health hazard. This New Year’s Eve will be largely a virtual affair.
Happily, however, there are still plenty of options. Obviously, none will come close to the real thing, but in a year in which scraping by has become a way of life, a virtual New Year’s Eve celebration doesn’t feel like the worst idea ever. Also, many of us secretly or not so secretly loathe December 31 anyway. For these individuals, snuggling up on the couch is a more than acceptable ‘plan B’.