A new RTÉ 2FM show presented by The 2 Johnnies comedy duo is to remain off air, until a review into a video with "offensive" comments about women is completed, the broadcaster has said.
The presenters, Johnny McMahon and Johnny O’Brien, have apologised for “offensive” comments made in a video posted on social media, ahead of their first RTÉ 2FM drivetime show earlier this week.
The Co Tipperary pair have hosted a podcast under their stage name, The 2 Johnnies, since 2018. In a recent video clip from the podcast, the two presenters read out a series of vulgar car bumper stickers sent into them by listeners, several of which included derogatory references to women.
The video has since been deleted, and the two presenters have apologised for the language in the clip. In a statement the pair said “this is not who we are nor what we stand for. We aim to do better in the future. We are not perfect and we are learning all the time”.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Liveline show on Friday, Mr O’Brien, one of the hosts, said some of the car stickers read out on the podcast were “crude” and “went too far”.
While the pair had been laughing during the segment, he said they had been “laughing at how bad” the car sticker slogans were. The new 2FM presenter said as hosts they had not been “clear enough in our condemnation” of the language.
‘Not experts’
Mr O’Brien said the word “ ‘slut’ was not in our vocabulary”, and not the kind of language they would use on the 2 Johnnies podcast. “We were not good enough in this instance … We do not condone this kind of thing,” he added.
The video clip had been posted on their social media account by a member of their team, and “as soon as we saw it we took it down”, he said.
The podcast had previously discussed issues such as consent, body image and sexuality, he said. “We’re always trying to be better … We’re not experts, and we say stupid stuff all the time, but we’re trying,” he said.
In a statement on Thursday, RTÉ said it had begun a “review” into the matter. “RTÉ believes in dignity and respect and does not tolerate material or attitudes of this nature,” it said.
A spokeswoman for RTÉ said the two presenters would remain off air while the matter was reviewed. The spokeswoman could not comment on how long the review would take.
