RTE host Katie Hannon has said she wouldn't say what the 2 Johnnies said on their RTE show on "any radio programme".
‘The 2 Johnnies’ apologised on Thursday after they were accused of airing ‘sexist and insulting comments’ in their podcast, and clips used to promote their new 2fm radio show.
The video clips in question were snippets from their latest podcast on Spotify, titled ‘Hocus Pocus, Your Girl’s In My Focus’, where the duo, known as Johnny Smacks and Johnny B, discuss a number of crude references about women on car bumper stickers.
In a segment they called ‘Irish Car Stickers’, the Tipperary natives - real names Johnny McMahon, 30, and Johnny O’Brien, 35, - read out some of the sticker slogans sent in by listeners, such as: “Workin’ the land and droppin’ the hand #Keephercountry”.
Others included: “Tyres are like women, no good unless they are squealing” and “She’s not a princess, she’s a sl*t.”
Reacting to some of the slogan's they were sent in, the duo said: "Jesus, I don't know who gets that and thinks it is a good idea. Scandalous."
Speaking today, while replacing Joe Duffy on RTE's Liveline, Katie Hannon said: "They(the comments) are supposedly funny, quite crude, I think I read one out earlier, 'she's no princess, she's a slut' was one of them, the 2 Johnnies said that had been sent in by a girl it was a girl's car it was on.
"That's I would say on the milder end of the level of crudeness, there were several mentioned that were read out that I would honestly not say, I wouldn't say them on an afternoon radio programme or indeed any radio programme."
She added: "I should say of course, RTE did not think this was funny either, they did not present their programme yesterday."
Speaking towards the end of Liveline, Johnny B appeared and said "we were not good enough in this instance" - more to come on this.
He added they "do not condone" this kind of thing.
And the 2 Johnnies are not back on their show on Friday either, with RTE saying: "'The 2 Johnnies will remain off air while we review the matter."
Today's Liveline heard a number of different views with some defending the Tipperary podcasters for being "misrepresented" over a "very small clip".
And former 2FM disc-spinner Keith Walsh has taken to social media to call for "context" on the clips.
He tweeted: "I’ll probably not be doing myself any favours here, and it’s not like I need to be sticking up for 2FM, and I don’t even know the 2 lads. But. It’s all about context. Here’s what actually happened.
"The lads were reading out ‘Dreadful’ car stickers that ‘boy/girl racers’.
"They were themselves using words like ‘scandalous’ and yes they were laughing but at how bad these stickers were and ‘why would you put them on your car?’ The word ‘slut’ was on a car sticker that a girl called Jane had put on her own car about herself - which they clearly state and are surprised about.
"None of this is good but context can change things. These stickers shouldn’t exist, people shouldn’t put them on their car. I’d be fairly sure the lads won’t be giving this stuff any airtime in the future.
"But if we’re to have a proper conversation about casual sexism and misogyny- then let’s have the conversation. Let it not be about cancelling people. Let’s hear them talk, apologize and then do better. That’s the healthy approach in my humble opinion. Men need to do better. Let’s see if we can."
In a statement on Thursday, the duo themselves said: "We would like to apologise for the content which appeared on our social media, these posts were offensive and should never have been published.
"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. John O’Brien and John McMahon."
