Christian activists say an apology from The Project over a joke made by cabaret performer Reuben Kaye does not go far enough and are calling for the entire show to be axed.
“The apology was a joke and if they really were sorry for the offence it caused, they wouldn’t have kept the original clip on their social media while not even sharing their own apology”. said Charlie Bakhos who runs the Facebook group Christian Lives Matter.
Last week Bakhos was posting clips of the Uniting Church in Sydney being vandalised after they painted the front stairs of the church in the colours of the Pride flag to show that they were welcoming to LGBTIQA+ people.
His comments about The Project were shared by Family Voice Australia, who added their own call for the program to be cancelled over the joke. The conservative group has launched a letter writing campaign.
There are also reports that Christian groups are planning to stage protests outside Channel Ten’s headquarters in Sydney.
During his Tuesday night appearance Kaye shared that he’s receives a lot of messages of social media from people who tell the camp performer he needs to accept religion in his life.
“I get a whole bunch on TikTok coming at me from a religious angle.” Kaye told the show’s panel that included Sarah Harris, Waheed Ali and Kate Langbroek.
“Which I think is hilarious because queer people, LGBTQIA+, predate any idea of God. We’re present in the animal kingdom., if you prior to the Cambrian explosion I’m sure they were two amoebas listening to Lady Gaga, doing poppers, and banging away.
“I think it’s hilarious when someone messages me and says, ‘You have to accept Jesus’s love or you will burn in hell’, because I love Jesus. I love any man who can get nailed for three days straight and come back for more.”
The joke sent Sarah Harris into fits of laughter, while Waheed Aly looked dumbfounded.
After the show aired the The Project’s Facebook page was filled with violent threats made against Kaye and the show’s hosts. While others praised the cabaret performer for telling the joke, which has been part of his act for many years, on national television.
The following evening on The Project the two hosts apologised for allowing the joke to go to air.
“We want to acknowledge the particular offense that caused our Muslim viewers but especially our Christian viewers.
“Obviously I understand just how profound that offense was.’ Aly said.
Harris also apologised saying, “Live TV is unpredictable and when this happened in the last few moments of last night’s show, it took us all by surprise, there wasn’t a lot of time to react in any sort of considered way,’ she said.
The hosts said Kaye’s comments had caught them all by surprise.
“It’s fair to say we weren’t expecting a comment like that to be made.” Aly said.
Sky News host Peta Credlin says The Project host Sarah Harris was only pretending to apologise
Sky News host Peta Credlin has called the show’s apology “B.S” and accused host Sarah Harris off not being sincere with the subsequent apology.
“I looked at Sarah Harris the night before, she was laughing.” Credlin said, arguing that Harris should have immediately apologised when the joke was aired.
Credlin said Harris was “pretending” when she issued an apology the following evening.
Sky News colleague Andrew Bolt said the joke was “foul”, and questioned if the show would make the same kind of joke about Indigenous Australians or Muslims.
While media writer for The Australian, Sophie Elsworth, said questions needed to be asked about why the joke was allowed to air during family time viewing.
“This is dinner time. This show runs from 6.30pm to 7.30pm when families are often sitting in front of the TV watching what’s on the news, or whatever program, and they’re being subjected to this kind of crude content. Channel Ten Executive Producers and staff at The Project should really be questioning how this content got to air.” Elsworth said.
Em Rusciano says producers have thrown Rueben Kaye “under the bus”
Comedian Em Rusciano, who has appeared as a panelist on the show many times, posted to Twitter saying she found it hard to believe that the content of Kaye’s appearance would not have been pre-approved by the show’s producers.
“I’ve worked on the project – VERY little is off the cuff! A tiny, tiny amount. They’ve flat out thrown him under the bus.” Rusciano said sharing her opinion on the furor.
Reuben Kaye is currently touring the country and will be in Perth on Friday 5th May playing a show at The Regal Theatre as part of the Perth Comedy Festival.
OIP Staff
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